Man fined $500 for mowing grass at historic cemetery

WISN 12 News

A Franklin man was issued a $500 fine last month for mowing the grass at a cemetery where two Civil War soldiers are buried.

Muskego Police responded to Luther Parker Cemetery June 20 and found 64-year-old Jordan Wenzel Sr. of Franklin mowing. Wenzel told the officer he did not have permission to cut the grass but had heard a television report about a dispute over tall grass at the cemetery and decided to help out.  

“I heard everybody saying it needs to be cut, it needs to be cut. Why doesn’t someone get a mower and cut it?” he said to WISN 12 News.

The officer said Wenzel immediately complied when told to stop mowing. Police later issued Wenzel a citation carrying a $500 fine for violating a city park regulation.

“It will cost me more to fight it than pay for it,” said Wenzel, who maintains he was just trying to help.

A sign outside the cemetery asks people not to mow. City officials want to keep the native wildflowers and prairie grasses on the graves like they would have been during the Civil War. The area is an official designated natural area and the municipality wants to keep it that way. But a Veterans group thinks the vegetation shows neglect. In April WISN 12 News reported on how The Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War is suing the city for not taking care of the graves.

“The City of Muskego could mow around the graves and leave the rest of the area for the prairie plants and wildflowers,” Dave Daley, Senior Vice Commander, said. “We would like to see it maintained like normal cemeteries. This doesn’t look like a normal cemetery.”

Wenzel says he didn’t know about the lawsuit when he mowed part of the cemetery.

http://www.wisn.com/article/man-fined-dollar500-for-mowing-grass-as-historic-cemetery/10277826

7 thoughts on “Man fined $500 for mowing grass at historic cemetery

  1. If this wasn’t such an outrage it would be funny. Cops writing fines to a good Samaritan fellow for mowing, OMG!

  2. No good deed goes unpunished

    Guess the more people wake up to this kind of crap
    The less anyone is ever gonna give a shit about giving a shit

    Next the cemetery will be fined for not mowing the grass , and no concerned citizens will come to their aid
    F-em for not having this guys back and F the pigs for ticketing this man , POS every one of them
    I hope yer mom smacks the taste out of yer mouth the next time she sees you

    And no sir will it cost more to fight it
    You should fight this , make them pay for their stupidity and wasting your time

  3. “On 9/11, we were attacked because they hate us for our freedom” ~ Bush

    ‘Freest nation on earth’

    1. “THERES NO SUCH THING AS “GOD”!

      “ALL RIGHTS WERE ENDOWED ON US BY THE CREATOR”…………..

  4. On this last Memorial day I trimmed the overgrown grass from the grave markers of some of my progenitors, Including A WWII US Navy veteran.
    Ten minutes away from Muskego.
    (Muskego, a relatively crime free speck of a town has a swat team complete with military vehicles, courtesy of Uncle Sam)
    Like the USS Liberty Library’s overly Jew friendly management, Muskego hopes the overgrowth and neglect will eventually make it disappear. Then they can plow it under and pretend it never was….to build some more taxable condos.

  5. So the stinking pig could not have told him, Sorry sir, you cannot mow here, please refrain from doing or next time we will fine you? Statist pigs make me want to throw up. I suppose this a-hole is considered one of the so-called “good cops.”

    1. Bill, It used to be that way. They would have never considered giving that guy a ticket years ago. They would have done just as you suggested.
      If a guy had too much to drink and his judgement was impaired, they used to offer a ride home.
      Nowadays, they consider us the enemy.

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