Arguing that burning the American flag is “uniquely offensive and provocative,” that it “may incite violence and riot,” and that foreign nationals burning American flags could be committing national-origin discrimination and “hate crimes,” President Trump has announced measures to be taken to prosecute flag-burners.
“The Attorney General shall prioritize the enforcement to the fullest extent possible of our Nation’s criminal and civil laws against acts of American Flag desecration that violate applicable, content-neutral laws, while causing harm unrelated to expression, consistent with the First Amendment,” says his executive order. “This may include, but is not limited to, violent crimes; hate crimes, illegal discrimination against American citizens, or other violations of Americans’ civil rights; and crimes against property and the peace, as well as conspiracies and attempts to violate, and aiding and abetting others to violate, such laws.”
In the United States, burning an American flag is absolutely not, in itself, a crime, the Supreme Court has ruled.
