Two Secret Service agents suffered minor injuries after a flag-burning protest got out of control outside the White House on July 4th.
One person was charged in the aftermath of a clash between Trump supporters and far-left agitators who descended on Washington, D.C on Thursday to cause trouble. Despite their feeble efforts, the left’s lawlessness was ultimately just a side-show to the incredible display of patriotism at the National Mall, where President Donald Trump delivered his “Salute to America” address to thousands of proud Americans.
Communists arrested outside White House
In the Trump era, when any display of patriotism is reflexively counter-signaled by the left, it’s not surprising that Trump’s July 4th celebration attracted a few left-wing malcontents. As thousands of Americans made their way to the National Mall, a small group of far-left demonstrators representing the Revolutionary Communist Party USA burned two American flags outside the White House.
The flag-burning radicals drew the attention of several Trump supporters, one of whom raced to put out the fire, as seen in a video shared by Washington Examiner reporter Steven Nelson. The man, who identified himself as a veteran, charged towards the left-wing demonstrators, who started chanting, “America was never great.”
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
According to Nelson, Trump supporters fired back, shouting, “This is America,” and, “America was always great.” When all was said and done, three people had been hurt, including two Secret Service officers, who received minor injuries while making arrests. All three people went to the hospital.
Three people were arrested for “burning an American flag outside the limits of a permit that had been issued by the National Park Service.” While it is not illegal to burn the American flag, two demonstrators were charged, one with felony assault on a police officer and malicious burning, and another for obstructing a police investigation and resisting arrest. The Secret Service released a statement describing the charges:
Secret Service statement on the flag burning incident on Pennsylvania Ave. during the #July4th activities in Washington D.C. pic.twitter.com/w72wLdYMRB
— U.S. Secret Service (@SecretService) July 4, 2019
Nelson later reported that one of the agitators, Gregory Johnson, will face two misdemeanor disorderly conduct charges, while the other person faces no charges.
Leftist agitators try to disrupt July 4th celebrations
The chaos erupted roughly an hour before Trump delivered his address from the Lincoln Memorial. Police were prepared for street battles as the hysterical left worried that Trump’s “Salute to America” would be a military-style salute to himself. Besides the chaotic flag-burning scene, leftist group Code Pink showed up with a “Baby Trump” blimp to protest Trump and his military display.
For the most part, though, the left-wing agitators failed to break the spirit of patriotism in the National Mall as thousands of Americans listened to Trump’s rousing address on America’s exceptional history. The speech was not, as gloomy pundits had predicted, a partisan stump fest for his re-election campaign.
Hours before Trump spoke, the talking point had settled: Trump would usurp July 4th and make it about his presidency. “I wonder what Donald Trump will say this evening, when he speaks to the nation at an event designed more to stroke his ego than celebrate American ideals,” Joe Biden said during an event in Iowa.
But Trump struck a unifying note: “Our nation is stronger today than it ever was before. It is its strongest now,” Trump said. “We celebrate our history, our people, and the heroes who proudly defend our flag: the brave men and women of the United States military.”
Although Trump proved the talking heads’ predictions wrong, the pedantic haters “fact checked” his speech for minor glosses, once again proving why the American people see the media as the enemy of the people. Journalists focused on Trump saying that George Washington’s Continental Army took over “airports,” which Trump attributed to an error with the teleprompter.
Of course, the talking heads missed the point, and only proved that they are too obsessed with hating Trump to support their country. What a shame.
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