Several leftist activists who burned American flags outside the White House were taken into custody after violence broke out Thursday. Two Secret Service agents were injured while making the arrests.
The scuffle broke out outside 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue around 5:30 p.m. as Trump supporters were waiting to hear President Donald Trump deliver his July 4 address, “Salute to America.”
Activists arrested after flag burning incident
A member of the Revolutionary Communist Party, Gregory Johnson, and several supporters set two American flags on fire. A video shared on Twitter by Washington Examiner reporter Steven Nelson shows the demonstrators setting a flag alight and dropping it on the ground. Their protest sparked a reaction from Trump supporters nearby.
A man in a sleeveless red “Make America Great Again” t-shirt, who identifies himself as a veteran, rushes over to grab the burning flag and put out the flames. Another man in a suit and Trump hat rushes over to help, shouting, “Put it out! Put it out!” The man in the sleeveless shirt then charges the flag-burning demonstrators, who form a circle and begin chanting, “1,2,3,4, Slavery, genocide and war; 5, 6, 7,8, America was never great.”
Watch below:
Footage of White House flag burning ahead of Trump’s #SaluteToAmerica
A man who identified himself as a veteran grabbed the burned flag #FourthofJuly pic.twitter.com/nJdWlMpdKp
— Steven Nelson (@stevennelson10) July 4, 2019
The Secret Service arrested at least two people, including Johnson. Nelson shared the video of Johnson’s arrest on Twitter. Leftist supporters can be heard shouting, “It’s legal to burn the flag” and “Let him go.”
Joey Johnson was just arrested by the Secret Service after burning an American flag outside the White House #FourthofJuly #SaluteToAmerica pic.twitter.com/eFbRn2dlhC
— Steven Nelson (@stevennelson10) July 4, 2019
Three people were injured in the scuffle, including two members of the Secret Service, who “received minor injuries while trying to make arrests” and were taken to the hospital. Another person was injured and brought to the hospital.
Johnson was the chief litigant in a 1989 Supreme Court case that struck down laws that made flag burning illegal. He announced his Independence Day flag burning protest ahead of time, telling the Washington Examiner in June that “that rag of empire and oppression is going to burn.”
While flag burning is not illegal, the protestors were not arrested for expressing themselves: two people were initially arrested (but not named), one for felony assault on a police officer and malicious burning, and the other for obstructing a police investigation and resisting arrest. The Secret Service said that the demonstration occurred “outside the limits of a permit issued by the National Park Service.”
In an update Friday, Nelson reported that the original charges were dropped and that Johnson faces two charges of misdemeanor disorderly conduct.
Patriots drown out left-wing cynics, anarchists
The flag burning incident was just one scene of division in an otherwise united capitol Thursday. A handful of left-wing demonstrators who descended on the National Mall to protest Trump’s administration were drowned out by the thousands of Trump supporters who gathered there in the rain for Trump’s “Salute to America” address.
The lead-up to Trump’s Independence Day celebration was marked by anxious chatter on the left over his plans to include tanks in a display of military pageantry. Many criticized the move as an authoritarian gesture and predicted that Trump would “politicize” the Fourth of July by stumping for his re-election. “The resemblance to days before Tiananmen Square is chilling,” Trump critic Laurence Tribe wrote, reacting to the arrival of tanks in Washington, D.C.
Incredible to see all in attendance to hear our @POTUS speak & celebrate our great nation’s Independence Day! 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/2graxKsR5H
— Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) July 5, 2019
But the president overpowered the left’s divisive message with a powerful, patriotic speech that proved his liberal critics to be anti-American cynics. While tanks and flyovers did make an appearance, Trump never once mentioned his re-election campaign in the speech — he stuck to the non-partisan script.
“Together we are part of one of the greatest stories ever told — the story of America,” Trump said. “It is the epic tale of a great nation whose people have risked everything for what they know is right.”
Is the left against Trump, or against America? It’s getting harder to tell.
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