Army veteran who burned American flag continues to protest Trump's order: "Bring up charges"
Army veteran who burned flag challenges DC's top prosecutor: "Bring up charges"
FOX 5 had a chance to speak with the man detained by federal authorities after burning an American flag outside the White House on Monday in direct opposition to an executive order signed by President Donald Trump. FOX 5's Bob Barnard has more from the Army veteran, who says he's ready to fight any charges brought against him.
WASHINGTON - FOX 5 had a chance to speak with the man detained by federal authorities after burning an American flag outside the White House on Monday, defying a presidential order mandating that those who engage in such demonstrations will be sentenced to a year behind bars.
The backstory:
Outside of Union Station on Tuesday, Jay Carey, the man who set that American flag on fire, was present to participate in the around-the-clock protest by military veterans opposed to the D.C. takeover.
He’s continuing to protest that new flag-burning executive order signed by President Donald Trump and while speaking to FOX 5, said he’s ready to challenge any charges brought by the administration.
"I know that I'm living in Trump's head right now and I love it. He is fuming and I did it right in front of his house," Carey told FOX 5.
The backstory:
Trump signed an executive order at the White House Monday which he says would require an automatic one year jail sentence for anybody who burns an American flag, but that's at odds with a ruling from the U.S. supreme court 36 years ago that declared flag burning an act of free speech protected by the First Amendment.
Carey set fire to an American flag at Lafayette Park across from the White House just after 6 p.m. on Monday in protest of the order.
The fire was put out by authorities, and the combat veteran from North Carolina who spent more than 20 years in the U.S. Army was quickly detained by the Secret Service and then the U.S. Park Police.
Carey was issued two citations—not for burning the flag, but for setting a fire in and unsecured place and for damaging park property.
His friend who recorded the incident, a fellow Army veteran, later shared on TikTok a video of Carey after he was released from custody about four hours later.
What they're saying:
FOX 5 spoke to both men at Union Station Tuesday afternoon.
"It wasn't a matter of disrespecting the flag. I'm a veteran. I fought under that flag. With that flag, for that flag. It's a matter of protesting against what the president was putting out: an executive order because he feels he can do anything that he wants and that's just not the case," Carey said
"When we have a Constitution and hundreds of years of Supreme Court jurisprudence saying that birthright citizenship is a thing, you can't stroke that away with a pen. Saying the First Amendment is a thing, you can't stroke that away with a pen, but that's what he's doing," said Russell Ellis, who goes by the username jolly_good_ginger on Instagram. "And so we've just reached a point—veterans and non-veterans alike—have reached a point where we're not going to take it any longer."
Carey says he’s prepared to take on the Trump administration, adding that he already has a highly experienced lawyer who has offered to take on his case.
"What I'm waiting on is our illustrious D.C. prosecutor to bring up charges, at the behest of our president, and say you need to spend a year in jail. Need to spend a year in jail. Not 10 years. Not 10 months. One year and it's ridiculous. And I want that challenge. I welcome that challenge. I already have the lawyer that defended that gentleman in 1989 about burning a flag, she's already stepped up to be my lawyer," Carey said.
For now, Carey says he'll have to come back here at a future date to deal with those two citations, and in the meantime will remain here to protest the national guard being dispatched to the streets of D.C.