man burns the American flag and gets detained

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

https://www.reddit.com/r/law/comments/1n06xgy/detained_for_burning_the_american_flag/

[MrWowWow]

1. Hope the Flag-Burning Veteran Gets His Case to SCOTUS

And then we'll see the extent that the cancer of fascism has infected our body politic .

[Fiendish Thingy]

2. What statute will he be charged with violating?

There isn’t one, only an executive order.

Case dismissed.

[Polybius]

3. It depends if they have any "burning in public" laws

In some areas, burning even a teddy bear in a park isn't legal. However, I don't think the penalty is anything more then a fine.

[Ranting Randy]

10. Burn a Flag vs Beat a Cop with a Flag

Executive Order, if you burn the flag: one year in prison.

But if you beat a police officer, with an American Flag on a flag pole,
The Orange Menace will pardon you!

[Ocelot II]

5. There used to be a federal statute, 18 USC 700, but it was held unconstitutional in 1989.

U.S. v. Eichmann. https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/usrep/usrep496/usrep496310/usrep496310.pdf
But this clearly unconstitutional EO will have a chilling effect because people will be arrested and have to defend themselves, even if their cases are thrown out.

[H2O Man]

9. I thought the

USSC ruled in Texas v. Johnson (1989) that it was constitutionally protected free speech?

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/08/25/trump-flag-burning-first-amendment/85814151007/

[Ocelot II]

11. Yes, exactly.

[H2O Man]

12. Thanks!

[Polybius]

14. Thanks to Antonin Scalia of all people

5-4 decision with Scalia in the majority.

[yellow dahlia]

4. He's putting himself on the front lines for the Consitution...and for us.

He took an oath decades ago, and he is still honoring it.

Thank you sir!

[webhead usa]

6. Don't Fear Freedom - or Flag Burning, Former POW Offers Lesson To Those Who Would Ban Flag Burning

Hello everybody! I am new here. This will be my fourth post.

Here are excerpts of an article about an American POW during the Viet Nam War. I am not posting the non-working link. The article was originally posted on July 14, 1989.

Written by James H. Warner, the article is his first-person account of an experience he had while a POW.

Here is an excerpt:

"In March of 1973, when we were released from a prisoner-of-war camp in North Vietnam, we were flown to Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines. As I stepped out of the aircraft I looked up and saw the flag. I caught my breath, then, as tears filled my eyes, I saluted it.

Because the mere sight of the flag meant so much to me when I saw it for the first time after 5 1/2 years, it hurts me to see other Americans willfully desecrate it. But I have been in a communist prison where I looked into the pit of hell. I cannot compromise on freedom. It hurts to see the flag burned, but I part company with those who want to punish the flag burners.

Marxists believe that ideas are merely the product of material conditions; change those material conditions, and one will change the ideas they produce. They tried to ''re-educate'' us. If we could show them that we would not abandon our belief in fundamental principles, then we could prove the falseness of their doctrine. We could subvert them by teaching them about freedom through our example. We could show them the power of ideas.

I did not appreciate this power before I was a prisoner of war. I remember one interrogation where I was shown a photograph of Americans protesting the war by burning a flag.

''There,'' the officer said. ''People in your country protest against your cause. That proves that you are wrong.''

''No,'' I said. ''That proves that I am right. In my country we are not afraid of freedom, even if it means that people disagree with us.''

"The officer was on his feet in an instant, his face purple with rage. He smashed his fist onto the table and screamed at me to shut up. While he was ranting I was astonished to see pain, compounded by fear, in his eyes. I have never forgotten that look, nor have I forgotten the satisfaction I felt at using his tool, the picture of the burning flag, against him."

Thanks for reading. :¬) Webhead USA

[Marie Marie]

7. Welcome to DU. Powerful article - thanks for sharing.

[RedWhiteBlueIsRacist]

8. Jiddu Krishnamurti, on the rag called the flag, and nationalism:

“We are very defensive, and therefore aggressive, when we hold on to a particular belief, a dogmas, or when we worship our particular nationality, with the rag that is called the flag.”—Jiddu Krishnamurti

"We don’t see the danger of nationalism or the danger of living with fear. We have got used to the danger of nationalism. It is part of our pleasure: the flag-waving, the shouting, the singing. They planted the American flag on the moon – just think of it! Or the Russian flag or your particular flag – it is the same thing. You don’t see the danger of it. It breeds war, antagonism, separation, economic differences, the rich and the poor, and all the rest of the agony of division, resistance, hate and war."—Jiddu Krishnamurti

[PeaceWave]

13. THIS man is doing something - Unlike those merely screaming Do Something! God be with him.