Uniformed Secret Service officers quickly moved in and arrested a man near the White House who was causing a commotion hours after President Donald Trump issued another executive order that will be challenged in court.
The man was arrested Monday for setting fire to an American flag in a federal park outside the White House, just hours after Trump signed an executive order targeting flag desecration.
The U.S. Secret Service said the individual was detained around 6:15 p.m. in Lafayette Park “for igniting an object” and was later turned over to the U.S. Park Police, which has jurisdiction over the area, The Hill reported.
The Park Police said officers arrested one individual in Lafayette Park around 6:30 p.m. on a charge of violating 36 CFR 2.13(a)(1), a regulation that prohibits starting fires in public parks outside of designated areas.
The agency declined to release the person’s identity, noting that such information is not made public until charges are formally filed in court.
Video of the arrest hit social media.
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Per the video, the man identified himself as a veteran with more than 20 years of service in the U.S. Army and said he was “burning this flag as a protest to that illegal fascist president that sits in that house,” as he gestured toward the White House.
“I fought for every single one of your rights to express yourself in however you feel that you may want to express yourself. There’s a First Amendment right to burn the American flag,” the man said through a bullhorn, adding, “No president can make a law, period.”
On Monday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order instructing the attorney general to pursue prosecutions in cases where individuals “desecrate” the American flag by citing potential violations of state and local laws. The order also directs federal officials to terminate or revoke visas for foreign nationals found to have engaged in flag desecration, the outlet reported.
Trump’s order, on the surface, appears to be at odds with a narrow 5-4 Supreme Court ruling in 1989 that established flag-burning as a form of protected speech under the First Amendment. Trump mentioned the ruling when he was signing his order on Monday, indicating that he believes the previous high-court ruling is ripe for a challenge under different circumstances.
The president’s order directs the Department of Justice and other agencies to “vigorously prosecute” anyone who burns or desecrates the flag, as well as “pursue litigation” aimed at having the Supreme Court overturn the 1989 case Texas v. Johnson, which prohibited punishing anyone for burning a US flag.
“You burn a flag, you get one year in jail. You don’t get 10 years. You don’t get one month. You get one year in jail. And it goes on your record, and you will see flag burning stopping immediately,” Trump said in the Oval Office.
“The American flag is the most sacred and cherished symbol of the United States of America, and desecrating it is uniquely and inherently offensive and provocative. It is a statement of contempt and hostility toward our Nation, and an act used by groups of foreign nationals calculated to intimidate and threaten violence against Americans,” Trump continued.
At another point, Trump spoke about deploying National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., and threatened to send additional forces into Baltimore, escalating his law-and-order campaign against Democratic-led cities ahead of the election.