OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
1:37 PM – Thursday, September 18, 2025
An Army veteran pleaded not guilty to federal criminal charges after setting fire to an American flag near the White House.
In August, President Donald Trump signed an executive order (EO) instructing prosecution for individuals who desecrate the American flag, including a year in prison.
Jan Carey, 54, protested the order by burning an American flag on the same day as its signing in Lafayette Park across the street from the White House.
“There’s a First Amendment right to burn the American flag,” the veteran shouted into his bullhorn as the flag burned. “No president can make a law, period!”
Carey was arrested on two misdemeanor charges, having damaged some property in the federally owned park, but he was not directly charged for burning the flag.
He told reporters after his hearing on Wednesday that he served in the Army from 1989 to 2012, deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan.
“I served this country for over 20 years, having taken an oath to upheld our Constitution. I did not take an oath to serve a dictator, a tyrant or a wannabe king,” Carey said.
U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro’s office filed the charges against Carey.
“Although we respect the First Amendment, there is a law that prohibits the burning of anything, including a flag, on federal property,” Pirro’s office said in a statement.
Defense attorney Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, co-founder of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, claimed the charges stifle free speech.
“This is a desecration of the First Amendment by the administration, and it is crucial that people stand up and speak out, exercise their rights,” Verheyden-Hilliard said.
In the ruling for Texas v. Johnson in 1989, the Supreme Court overturned the conviction of Gregory Lee Johnson, who burned a flag outside of the 1984 Republican National Convention in protest. The court’s 5-4 decision determined that flag burning was protected under the First Amendment as “symbolic speech.”
Trump’s EO, however, holds that the Supreme Court’s rulings on First Amendment protections did not protect flag desecration that incites “lawless action” or amounts to “fighting words.” The order also rules that flag desecration that violates other State or local laws, such as destruction of property laws, will be referred to the appropriate State or local authority for prosecution.
Flag desecration is outlawed in several countries. In France, publicly desecrating a flag can be punishable by heavy fines and up to six months of imprisonment. In Italy, intentionally damaging the Italian flag can result in imprisonment for up to two years, in addition to a fine for verbally insulting the flag. In Mexico, disrespecting the flag, including desecration, is punishable by fines and a minimum of six months in prison. In South Korea, defaming the South Korean flag with the intent to insult the state can be penalized with up to one year in prison.
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