DOJ Drops Case Over White House Flag-Burn Protest

The Justice Department moved to dismiss two misdemeanor charges against veteran Jan “Jay” Carey for a flag-burning protest near Lafayette Square across from the White House on the day President Trump signed an order aimed at cracking down on flag burning. Carey was charged with igniting a fire in an undesignated area and damaging park resources, not the act of flag burning itself, and his lawyers say the case implicates First Amendment rights. A federal judge had signaled that prosecutors’ actions could be questioned as potentially politically motivated by the executive order, and the dismissal follows that ruling and ahead of a Monday deadline for prosecutors to disclose internal decision‑making.