Donald Trump signed an executive order instructing federal prosecutors to pursue criminal charges against individuals who burn American flags during protests. The order directs the US attorney general, Pam Bondi, to review flag-burning cases and consider charging protesters with offenses such as disturbing the peace or violating environmental laws. The measure seeks to circumvent the 1989 Supreme Court ruling in Texas v. Johnson that protected flag burning as political expression under the First Amendment. The executive order does not specify penalties despite the president's claim of a possible one-year jail term. Recent YouGov polling shows many Americans oppose flag burning during protests.
The order tells the US attorney general, Pam Bondi, to look at cases where people burned flags and see if they can be charged with other crimes like disturbing the peace or breaking environmental laws. It's an attempt by Trump to go around a supreme court decision from 1989, when the court ruled 5-4 in Texas v Johnson that destroying the flag is protected political expression under the first amendment.
All over the country they're burning flags, Trump said in the Oval Office on Monday when he signed the order. All of 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. Trump also claimed you burn a flag, you get one year in jail as he signed the executive order, but the order itself doesn't include details about a potential jail sentence.
In 2016, he posted on social media: Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag if they do, there must be consequences perhaps loss of citizenship or year in jail! Most Americans tend to agree with Trump on this issue. Polling conducted by YouGov in 2020 showed nearly half of Americans support making flag destruction illegal, while about one-third believe it's permissible.
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