DOJ Charges Man Who Burned US Flag in Protest of Executive Order

Two charges were filed in Washington, but neither charge focuses on the fact that he burned the flag.

A man burns a U.S. flag outside the White House on Aug. 25, 2025. CNN

A man who burned the U.S. flag outside the White House on Aug. 25 is facing charges from federal prosecutors in accordance with President Donald Trump’s recent executive order.

That order, signed on Aug. 25, specifically directed the attorney general to prosecute those caught burning the U.S. flag or desecrating it in other ways.

“You will see flag burning stopping immediately,” Trump said. “The people in our country don’t want to see our flag burned and spit on.”

North Carolina resident Jan Carey, 54, is the first to face that prosecution after he decided to burn the U.S. flag as a form of protest of the executive order.

In an interview with local media, he said, “[I] immediately thought I need to go burn a flag in front of the White House and let’s put this to the test.”

He also said he was a military veteran.

Carey faces two misdemeanor criminal counts in Washington in federal court. However, neither charge focuses on the fact that he burned the flag.

The first count is for lighting a “fire in an undesignated area,” and the second is for “lighting a fire in a manner that causes damage to real property or park resources.”

“On or about August 25, 2025, within the District of Columbia, Jan Carey lit, tended, and used a fire in a manner that threatened, caused damage to, and resulted in the burning of property, real property, and park resources, and created a public safety hazard,” U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro wrote in her complaint.

A Supreme Court ruling in 1989, Texas v. Johnson, declared that the act of flag desecration was protected as symbolic speech under the First Amendment. Trump directed the attorney general to pursue charges in line with the First Amendment.

“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,” Trump’s executive order states.

“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.”

Trump also called that 1989 court decision “sad” and argued that the issue of flag burning goes beyond free speech. He said the highest court in the land did not rule out charges in cases in which a burning flag “is likely to incite imminent lawless action.”

“When you burn the American flag, it incites riots,” Trump said.

Travis Gillmore contributed to this report.