President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order directing the Justice Department to prosecute people who burn or desecrate the American flag, calling the act uniquely "provocative" and a danger to public safety.
"If you burn a flag, you get one year in jail, no early exits, no nothing. You get one year in jail, and it goes on your record and you will see flag burning stopping immediately," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "Some people would say it's more important than protecting our monuments, because the people in this country don't want to see our American flag burned and spit on by paid agitators."
Trump also signed the following executive orders:
• Measures to End Cashless Bail and Enforce the Law in the District of Columbia.
• Taking Steps to End Cashless Bail to Protect Americans.
• Additional Measures to Address the Crime Emergency in the District of Columbia.
Trump acknowledged the argument that flag burning might be a constitutional freedom of speech issue, but he warned it's also dangerous activity that can incite a riot.
"Flag burning all over the country," Trump said before signing the order. "They're burning flags all over the world. They burn the American flag.
"And as you know, through a very sad court — I guess it was a 5-4 decision — they called it freedom of speech.
"But there's another reason, which is perhaps much more important: It's called death. Because what happens when you burn a flag is the area goes crazy. If you have hundreds of people, they go crazy."
Go ahead with your burn, baby, burn protests, but the flag will be off-limits, Trump ostensibly said.
"You can do other things," he continued. "You can burn this piece of paper. You can.
"But when you burn the American flag, it incites riots at levels that we've never seen before. People go crazy, in a way, both ways. There are some that are going crazy for doing it.
"There are others that are angry — angry about them doing it."
A White House fact sheet said the flag "is the most sacred and cherished symbol of the United States of America, and desecrating it is uniquely and inherently offensive and provocative."
Trump's order instructs Attorney General Pam Bondi to "vigorously prosecute" cases where desecration can be charged without violating First Amendment protection, and to litigate to clarify the scope of free speech on the issue.
The directive also orders federal authorities to refer cases to state and local prosecutors, and to bar flag burners from U.S. immigration benefits — including visas, residence permits, and naturalization.
Trump likened the action to his 2020 executive order imposing steep penalties for defacing federal monuments, saying it will put an end to flag burning nationwide.
Information from Reuters was used to compile this report.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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