Latest news with #flagburning
Fox News
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Trump's renewed calls to jail American flag burners clashes with court precedent
President Donald Trump revived calls this week for people who burn American flags to go to jail after demonstrators in California were seen torching them and waving Mexican flags in protest of the administration carrying out immigration enforcement operations in the state. "I happen to think if you burn an American flag, because they were burning a lot of flags in Los Angeles, I think you go to jail for one year, just automatic," Trump told the New York Post. Flag burning in the United States is neither unlawful nor unconstitutional. Offenders can only be punished under the law for flag burning if they are committing another crime at the same time, such as violating fire safety laws or burning flags that they stole. Trump also said this week during a speech in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, that he was working with Congress to pass a law that would outlaw burning American flags, noting Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., was on board. "We'll see if we can get that done," Trump said. Hawley responded by proposing a bill on Thursday that would create stiffer penalties for rioters who burned American flags. The proposed legislation included the stipulation that the flag burning had to occur while the offender was also committing riot-related crimes. Hawley called the American flag a "symbol of our nation." In a landmark decision in 1989, the Supreme Court concluded that states could not pass laws that criminalize American flag burning, saying it would open the door to prohibiting the burning of state flags and copies of the presidential seal or Constitution. "To conclude that the government may permit designated symbols to be used to communicate only a limited set of messages would be to enter territory having no discernible or defensible boundaries. … In evaluating these choices under the First Amendment, how would we decide which symbols were sufficiently special to warrant this unique status? To do so, we would be forced to consult our own political preferences, and impose them on the citizenry, in the very way that the First Amendment forbids us to do," the majority opinion read. Chief Justice William Renquist dissented, writing that the flag was not "simply another 'idea' or 'point of view' competing for recognition in the marketplace of ideas." "Millions and millions of Americans regard it with an almost mystical reverence regardless of what sort of social, political, or philosophical beliefs they may have," Renquist wrote. Congress responded to the decision by passing a law called the Flag Protection Act that made knowingly desecrating the American flag a federal crime, but the Supreme Court struck down that law, too.
Fox News
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Sen Josh Hawley introduces legislation to imprison American flag burners for 1 year
FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo.., is introducing legislation that creates new penalties for rioters who burn the American flag Thursday, Fox News Digital has learned. Hawley says he discussed the flag burnings in Los Angeles with President Donald Trump and the pair agreed that desecrating the American flag should come with additional penalties. If passed, the bill would add one year in prison for flag burners on top of any rioting conviction. Hawley referenced images and video coming out of Los Angeles showing dozens of protesters and rioters burning American flags, with many waving foreign flags instead. "I would hope that every Republican would vote for it. Even my Democratic colleagues," Hawley told Fox in an interview. "This is the symbol of our nation." While courts have deemed flag burning in certain contexts to be protected expression, Hawley argues that protection falls away when a flag is burned "in furtherance of committing a federal crime," such as rioting. Trump himself lashed out at flag-burners in Los Angeles during a Tuesday speech at Fort Bragg commemorating the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army. "These are animals, but they proudly carry the flags of other countries. They don't carry the American flag. They only burn it. Did you see a lot of the flags being burned?" Trump asked the crowd of service members, veterans, and their families. "They weren't being burned by people from our country, or from people that love our country. People that burn the American flag should go to jail for one year," Trump continued. "We'll see if we can get that done. We're going to try and get that done. We're working with some of your senators," he added. "Senator Josh Hawley is very much involved." Trump reiterated his stance about potential jail time for those who burn American flags during an interview on a podcast hosted by New York Post columnist Miranda Devine on Monday. "I happen to think if you burn an American flag — because they were burning a lot of flags in Los Angeles — I think you go to jail for one year. Just automatic," once again referencing the details of the bill. In addition to potential criminal penalties for rioters, Trump has suggested he may try to go after Gov. Gavin Newsom for interfering with ICE operations in Los Angeles. During the president's comments at Fort Bragg, Trump also noted that his administration is looking into who may be "financing" the protests, saying "we're going to find out through Pam Bondi and Department of Justice who it is." Hawley has also launched a congressional investigation into alleged financial support for the rioters.
The Independent
10-06-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Watch: Trump says people who burn the American flag ‘should go to jail for a year'
Donald Trump says that anyone who burns the American flag should be thrown in prison. The president made the remarks at Fort Bragg on Tuesday (10 June) during a celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Army. During his speech, Trump boasted about the thousands of troops he's deployed in Los Angeles amid protests over his administration's immigration raids. The president condemned the demonstrators as a 'vicious, violent mob,' falsely claiming that many of them burned the American flag during standoffs with law enforcement. 'People that burn the American flag should go to jail for one year,' Trump declared. He took it a step further by adding that he's working with a few senators to 'get that done.' In 1989, the Supreme Court ruled that burning the American flag is a form of symbolic speech protected by the First Amendment.
Fox News
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Trump vows consequences for 'animals' burning American flags in LA, slams those waving other countries' flags
President Donald Trump slammed anti-ICE protesters in Los Angeles, whom he described as "animals," for carrying flags of other countries and burning the American flag amid their efforts to protest federal deportation actions. Trump also floated the potential of imposing criminal penalties, specifically a one-year jail sentence, for burning the American flag, during comments at Fort Bragg Tuesday afternoon commemorating the United States Army's 250th anniversary. "These are animals, but they proudly carry the flags of other countries. They don't carry the American flag. They only burn it. Did you see a lot of the flags being burned?" Trump asked the crowd of service members, veterans, and their families. "They weren't being burned by people from our country, or from people that love our country. People that burn the American flag should go to jail for one year," Trump continued. "We'll see if we can get that done. We're going to try and get that done. We're working with some of your senators." The president's appearance at Fort Bragg comes amid controversy over his deployment of over 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 U.S. Marines to Los Angeles in response to violent immigration protests. Critics, including Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom, argue that the deployment is an overreach of federal authority. Trump reiterated his stance about potential jail time for those who burn American flags during an interview on a new podcast hosted by New York Post columnist Miranda Devine that debuted Monday. "I happen to think if you burn an American flag — because they were burning a lot of flags in Los Angeles — I think you go to jail for one year," he said during his appearance on the new podcast. "Just automatic." In addition to potential criminal penalties for rioters, Trump has suggested he may try to go after Gov. Newsom for interfering with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in Los Angeles. Newsom filed a lawsuit Monday against the Trump administration, alleging the president violated California's 10th Amendment rights by invoking a law that enabled federal control of the National Guard. "Come after me. Arrest me," Newsom said. "Let's just get it over with, tough guy." During the president's comments at Fort Bragg, Trump also noted that his administration is looking into who may be "financing" the protests, saying "we're going to find out through Pam Bondi and Department of Justice who it is." U.S. Attorney General Bondi, in her first appearance since the riots broke out, indicated that the Justice Department has "nine open cases" connected to the ongoing protests, which critics have deemed amount to riots. "As President Trump said: You spit we hit," Bondi said. "Get ready."
Fox News
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Anti-ICE protesters in Los Angeles spit on and burn American flag
Protesters in Los Angeles were filmed burning and spitting on American flags as they chanted anti-Trump slogans over the weekend. Footage from the incident shows a circle of dozens of people, many wearing masks, surrounding an American flag burning on the ground. Several of the individuals then spit on the flag or sprayed flammable liquid to continue the blaze before a second flag was added to the fire. A number of the protesters held high the flags of South American countries like Mexico as the U.S. flag burned on the ground. They also chanted "F-Trump." The footage from this weekend's riots also shows officers with the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department moving in to disperse the crowds, shooting flash bangs as they went. The Los Angeles Police Department declared an "unlawful assembly" Sunday night as protesters failed to disperse in the downtown area. "Agitators have splintered into and through out the Downtown Area," the LAPD's Central Division wrote on X. "Residents, businesses and visitors to the Downtown Area should be alert and report any criminal activity. Officers are responding to several different locations to disperse crowds." "An UNLAWFUL ASSEMBLY has been declared for the Downtown Los Angeles area," the department added. Protesters marched into the L.A. Live area, an entertainment complex in the heart of downtown Los Angeles that sits adjacent to Arena and the Los Angeles Convention Center, and were blocking lanes on Figueroa and 11th streets, police said. President Donald Trump sent in the National Guard this weekend after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were reportedly attacked on the streets of L.A. as they conducted raids to catch and deport illegal immigrants. Seeing that neither California Gov. Gavin Newsom nor L.A. Mayor Karen Bass were moving aggressively enough to stop the attacks, Trump signed a presidential memorandum to deploy 2,000 National Guard troops to "address the lawlessness that has been allowed to fester," the White House said in a statement. Newsom objected immediately even as the riots spiraled. "I have formally requested the Trump Administration rescind their unlawful deployment of troops in Los Angeles county and return them to my command," Newsom wrote on X on Sunday alongside his letter to President Trump. "We didn't have a problem until Trump got involved. This is a serious breach of state sovereignty – inflaming tensions while pulling resources from where they're actually needed."
