On Monday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order necessitating the prosecution of individuals who burn the American flag as a means of intimidation. The White House labeled this act as “uniquely offensive and provocative.”
The order affirms, “My Administration will undertake actions to reinstate respect and sanctity for the American Flag and hold accountable those inciting violence or otherwise breaching laws while desecrating this emblem of our nation, to the fullest extent allowed under any existing authority.”
Preceding Monday’s directive, incidents of flag burning in public have become increasingly noticeable. Below are several recent instances:
September 2023: Avowed communists protest Jason Aldean
Members of RevCom (Revolutionary Communist Party), advocating for a Marxist revolution in the United States, burned American flags outside a concert by country music star Jason Aldean. This protest was against a song Aldean had released months earlier.
Revolutionary Communists burning U.S. flags in Chicago outside a Jason Aldean concert on Sept. 9, 2023. (Screenshot/News2Share)
Aldean’s song “Try That In A Small Town” stirred controversy after left-wing groups discovered its music video was filmed outside a Tennessee courthouse associated with a lynching almost a century ago.
June 2022: Pro-choice protesters in D.C.
After Roe v. Wade was overturned, groups of pro-choice protesters burned an American flag in the streets of Washington, D.C.
The Supreme Court decision returned the power to regulate abortions back to individual states.
Pro-choice demonstrators in Washington, D.C. burned the American flag following the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade. (Lisa Bennatan/Fox News Digital)
“Our great American Flag is the most sacred and cherished symbol of the United States of America, and of American freedom, identity, and strength,” Trump’s order said. “Over nearly two-and-a-half centuries, many thousands of American patriots have fought, bled, and died to keep the Stars and Stripes waving proudly.
“Burning this representation of America may incite violence and riot. American Flag burning is also used by groups of foreign nationals as a calculated act to intimidate and threaten violence against Americans because of their nationality and place of birth.”
