Daijiworld Media Network- Washington
Washington, Aug 27: In a dramatic incident outside the White House, a man was arrested on Monday evening after setting fire to the American flag in Lafayette Park, just hours after President Donald Trump signed a sweeping executive order against flag desecration.
According to the US Secret Service, the man ignited the flag around 6.15 pm before being detained and handed over to the US Park Police, which holds jurisdiction over the area. Agents swiftly used a fire extinguisher to put out the flames.
While the suspect’s identity was not officially revealed, video footage aired by CNN showed him claiming to be a veteran with over two decades of service in the US Army. In the clip, he declared that his protest was directed against “that illegal fascist president sitting in that house,” while pointing at the White House. He further asserted that burning the flag was his constitutional right under the First Amendment.
The arrest came just hours after Trump signed an executive order titled “Prosecuting Burning of the American Flag”, directing the Justice Department to pursue criminal cases against those who desecrate the national emblem. The order also called for exploring state and local laws applicable in such cases, including disturbing the peace, property destruction, and incitement to violence. It even sought revocation of visas for foreign nationals involved in flag burning.
“All over the country they’re burning flags,” Trump told reporters while signing the order. “If you burn a flag, you get one year in jail, no early exits, no nothing.”
Notably, the order stops short of explicitly criminalizing flag burning but presses for aggressive prosecution and possible legal challenges to expand exceptions to the First Amendment.
The president’s directive comes against the backdrop of the landmark 1989 Supreme Court ruling in Texas v. Johnson, where the court, in a 5-4 decision, held that flag burning is a form of “symbolic speech” protected under the First Amendment. Trump’s move is being seen as a fresh attempt to circumvent that ruling.