Flag burning has been recognized for decades as an act of symbolic speech, protected under the first amendment.
WASHINGTON — On Monday, President Donald Trump issued an executive order directing the Department of Justice to investigate incidents involving flag desecration and burning. He stated that individuals who burn a U.S. flag would be charged with inciting a riot.
Trump said burning an American flag “incites riots at levels we’ve never seen before.”
According to Trump, those found guilty of destroying a flag would face a charge of inciting a riot and be sentenced to one year in jail without the chance for early release.
Trump’s advisers insisted the executive order “would not violate the First Amendment,” which guarantees freedom of speech, but offered no further clarification.
Fox News, which was the first outlet to report about the order, cited a fact sheet provided by the White House.
The fact sheet shared with Fox declares, “The American flag is the most sacred and revered emblem of the United States, and its desecration is distinctly offensive and provocative. It signifies antagonism and hostility towards our Nation, often utilized by foreign groups as an attempt to intimidate and threaten violence against Americans.”
The legal debate surrounding flag burning has persisted for over a century, with the Supreme Court first addressing the issue in 1907.
In that case, the Supreme Court held that state governments had the authority to ban desecration of the United States flag.
Subsequent rulings have evolved, recognizing flag-related symbolic speech as a protected right under the First Amendment. The landmark case, Texas v. Johnson in 1989, resulted in a 5-4 Supreme Court decision affirming that the act of burning the flag was safeguarded as free expression, as reported by the Free Speech Center at Middle Tennessee State University.
Recent flag burnings have protested the Trump administration’s policies on Israel and immigration, with demonstrators across the country burning flags in symbolic gestures against the hardline immigration practices the Trump administration is imposing with ICE raids, as well as U.S. support of Israel as Israeli forces continue an offensive in Gaza that outside observers have called a genocide and cautioned about famine.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
