"...a perceived lack of patriotism on behalf of the man who was ultimately arrested." "...BEHALF..."??? Lousy writing - no more tank top for you.

You don't stand or remove your hat for the national anthem, You talk on your cell phone during a moment of silance for the deceased = an act of provocation.  And then you have a weapon on you ?  The only people who would defend this guy has to be the people who feel burning the Koran is ok.

Holy moley. What happens if the guy is a tourist? What if he's from Sweden and decides that he doesn't need to stand for the anthem of a foreign nation? Can he expect abuse?

That man has every right not to stand for the national anthem (note the lower case letters), despite what any jar-headed marine who thinks he's still killing innocent people in Iraq & Afghanistan may say!!!

Ha Ha Ha Ha , The only people who would defend this guy has to be the people who feel burning the Koran is ok.

That Marina is a Killer out side the  "US of A hole" -  and su[ports a bunch of Theives called Politicians 

Who gives a shit if someone else stands or takes their hat off during the anthem? Mind your own god damned business.

I grew up in a town that had many Vets - some were very patriotic, and some could give a crap about standing up for anything related to the flag.

The marine was completely in the wrong - has he been punished, or placed in jail for harassment? 

Knowing that marines tend to travel in packs, I'm not surprised the man defended himself - he was probably afraid for his life and wanted to prevent a beating.

I do not call this assault on a marine, I would call it self defence agasint a pack of marines picking a fight.

Where does this tough guy get off telling random adults what to do. He deserved a tase and is lucky this guy didn't have a knife. Keep your mouth closed and mind you own business, common sense 101.

I guess if he had a Knife and Killed the marine that would be ok also ?? 

YOU SHOULD STAND UP ONLY BECAUSE YOU WANT TO.THIS IS A LAND OF FREEDOM.MY DAD WAS A U.S.MARINE ON THE U,S,S CLEVELAND DURING W.W.11.& WE DON;T FORCE ANYONE TO STAND.THAT MARINE WAS WRONG.IN THE U.S.S.R. THEY WOULD HAVE TO STAND.FREEDOM ,,,,THAT IS WHAT THE U.S. CONSTITUTION STANDS FOR.

I am one of Jehovah's Witnesses and am also a veteran as I served 4 years in the Air Force (at Tinker Air Force base during the OK City bombing) and 1 year in the Air National Guard prior to becoming a Witness.  Generally, civillians stand and place their hand over their heart during the national anthem.  It is appropriate for a Witness to stand during this time without placing their hand on their heart.  This shows respect to other people's beliefs but does not deter from our allegaince to Jehovah God.

Jehovah's Witnesses do not ever remain seated to show ANY disrespect.  Our beliefs are such that we put God first without any effort to disregard the beliefs of others.

Also, Jehovah's Witnesses in the US do not generally have any more facial hair than a well groomed mustache unless they have a severe scar or medical condition.  True Witnesses also would not have a stun gun.

Please don't judge an entire group of kind people based on the ignorance of one.

Jo;

    I am so glad you took the time to write this. I own a small service business and have quite a few Jehovah's witnesses as clients. When I heard about this incident, I thought about the experiences I have had with witnesses, They would never conduct them-self in a manor that people would be insulted, and they would never, never have a weapon of any sort on them. Believe me no one is judging by the conduct of this one person. because anyone who has ever had contact with Jehovah witnesses knows that this man is no Jehovah witnesses. 

The son is wrong about his dad being a devout Jehovah's Witness because the male members of Jehovah's Witnes se coms DO NOT wear beards like this man has.

What exactly is the connection between the uncovered head and a feeling of patriotism that should be in your heart? Who made this rule? And who thinks they can judge another man's character by what he has on his fucking head? 

I guess I'm not alone in my feeling. I'm a Dominican-Panamanian of the Black race born in the United States where mainstream Blacks feel need to hate me because I'm too "Latino" while Latinos tend to hate my skin color. We're a nation that seems to not realize we can't reconcile "One Nation Under God" against "Separation of Church and State" while simultaneously ignoring and forgetting the Treaty of Tripoli. (I know. I lost you. Get over it.) We have congressional leaders that piss off my grade-school nieces and nephews and can't figure out that homosexuality is not a lifestyle "choice" - rather, bigotry actually is. Meanwhile I'm supposed to be expected to stand during "forced nationalism" without explanation. I'm no Jehovah Witness, I'm actually an atheist. But you'll forgive my lack of motivation in participating in patriotism toward a country full of people that have never treated me very good to begin with. Thanks. I'll pass too. And I'll call the police and have that rat-bastard arrested for false imprisonment if he tries to pull any shit like that with me.

This is why I don't get along with most people in the military.  They think that they have a free pass to be a fascist towards everyone else.  As someone above said, normal citizens are not soldiers and should not be treated as such.  This Marine should be court martialed for his unpatriotic and senseless actions towards the very people he is supposed to be defending.  Fuck him for being a douche and bravo to Leroy for exercising his AMERICAN rights.

The Marine was a bully and got what he deserved! McKelvey was acting in self-defense. The Marine should be charged with felony false-imprisonment by attempting or threatening to ground or restrain another man against his will. Each of us have to learn how to live our own F-ing lives and leave other people the hell alone...PERIOD! If the Marine minded his own business to begin with...none of this would have ever happened...right?

Another Moron. The Marine was assaulted.

that's not clear from the info we have.... says.. fisticuffs ensued...  I bet the marine was the agressor.