Back in 1981 or so, the US gummint decided to put up road blocks along the US Highway leading from Key West to the Mainland to stem the flow of the Marielitos, the evil and crazy ones Castro set free from prison and mental hospitals and thousands landed in the US, mostly in Key West. The road block put such a big clamp on Key West's resort business, that the City Fathers decided to jokingly secede from the US of A and form the Conch Republic. It was a great
PR move until they announced that on a certain date, the US flag would be lowered and replaced with the Conch Republic flag. A group of WW Two, Korean and Nam vets at the local VFW made it perfectly clear. "If the US flag is lowered and the Conch Republic flag hoisted in its stead, we will kill the city fathers." They were as serious as a heart attack and the city boys knew it.
Rational thought prevailed and a second flag pole was used for the CR flag.
And, even the US gummint decided to disband the road block.