Far-left protesters burned an American flag near the White House on Saturday, singing “America was never great,” just moments later. President Trump
Donald John Trump Trump responds to calls to tear down monuments with creation of Trump Statues’ National Garden ‘: Children are taught at school to’ hate their own country ‘Trump accuses those who knock down statues of wanting to’ overthrow the American Revolution ‘ He finished making a speech at the “Salute to America” Independence Day celebration.
The video shows the burned flag at Black Lives Matter Plaza, just outside the White House. Activists can be heard singing, “One, two, three, four, slavery, genocide, and war. Five, six, seven, eight, the United States was never great.”
Protesters “reject fascism” outside the White House for #FlagBurningChallenge https://t.co/vEwxzoOKVx
– Ford Fischer (@FordFischer) July 4, 2020
After discussions with protesters who disagreed with his action, RevCom succeeded in lighting a larger flag outside of the closed Lafayette plaza with chants of “slavery, genocide and war: America was never great.” In seconds, it burns to ashes. pic.twitter.com/r7VItDanpw
– Alejandro Alvarez (@aletweetsnews) July 5, 2020
The protesters appeared to be with Refuse Fascism, as well as the Revolutionary Communist Party, two groups that frequently protested against the Trump administration. Reject Fascism held protests in cities across the United States on July 4, posting on its website that it also created and then tore down a “statue” of Trump himself outside the Trump Tower in New York.
The demonstration in front of the White House occurs when many citizens reflect on Independence Day in the context of national protests against police brutality and racism. Some of those protests have featured calls to tear down Confederate statues or monuments commemorating figures who supported slavery.
Trump has criticized those protesters, including in his “Salute to the United States” speech, where he called for the “radical left.”
“We are now in the process of defeating the radical left, the Marxists, the anarchists, the agitators, the looters, and the people who in many cases have no idea what they are doing,” he said in his speech.
The president has also fiercely criticized the burning of the flag, saying last month that those who burn the American flag should go to jail.
However, burning the American flag is not illegal, and the Supreme Court ruled in the 1989 Texas v. Case. Johnson that the action is protected by the First Amendment.
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