Former selectwoman ‘knelt because I love my country’
Melissa J. Schlag, the former small town selectwoman whose decision to protest President Donald Trump by kneeling during the Pledge of Allegiance at a town meeting drew both praise and scorn, died Friday at age 46.
Schlag, who had been treated for cancer, was a well-known environmentalist who served as Haddam’s first selectwoman from 2013 to 2015.
She made national headlines in 2018, when, as a Democratic member of the board of selectmen, she knelt silently during the Pledge of Allegiance. “I didn’t kneel because I hated my country,” she said at the time. “I knelt because I love my country.”
Some in the pastoral Connecticut River Valley town of 8,000 people were harshly critical of Schlag, saying her protest signified a profound disrespect for the flag, the military and the country as a whole. Others viewed her decision to kneel as an act of patriotism, echoing the position taken by NFL players who refused to
stand during the national anthem.
Schlag’s actions in the summer of 2018 reflected deep political divisions in Haddam — and the nation. She said she was motivated by her disapproval of Trump’s comments regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election and other policies put forth by the administration.
State Rep. Christine Palm, a Democrat whose district includes Haddam, said she views Schlag’s actions in line with the type of civil disobedience characterized as “good trouble” by former congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis.
“Every so often, if we are lucky, a person comes into our life who challenges us to be better,” Palm tweeted Saturday, as news of Schlag’s death spread. “Melissa Schlag was such a person for me.
“A lightning rod for controversy, she was equally vilified and admired,” Palm said. “Deeply principled people expose the cracks in our social fabric and force us to question where we stand. In all her glorious imperfection, Melissa was one of the bravest and smartest people I knew.”
Schlag “was well known for her involvement in our community, her passion for the environment and conservation, and her work on the Haddam Bulletin,” First Selectman Robert McGarry said in a posting on Haddam’s town website.
“I admired the courage she had to stand up for her convictions,” he said. “She did a lot for Haddam. She will be missed.”