WASHINGTON — The Justice Department moved to dismiss charges against Army veteran Jay Carey, who was arrested after setting fire to an American flag near the White House, according to a court filing reported by the Associated Press.
Carey, 55, of Arden, North Carolina, was arrested on Aug. 25 after he set fire to a flag in Lafayette Park, an area overseen by the National Park Service. The charges he faced were two misdemeanors that were not focused on the act of burning a flag, the AP reported. Prosecutors charged him with igniting a fire in an undesignated area and with lighting a fire that caused damage to property or park resources.
Carey pleaded not guilty in September, according to the AP report. The Friday filing that sought dismissal did not explain the decision to drop the case, and the U.S. Attorney’s office for the District of Columbia did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment, the AP said.
The case comes against the backdrop of a Supreme Court ruling that flag burning is protected political expression. The AP said that President Donald Trump’s executive order signed earlier on Aug. 25 directed the Justice Department to investigate and prosecute people for burning the American flag.
The AP report said Trump’s order asserted that such flag burning can be prosecuted if it “is likely to incite imminent lawless action” or amounts to “fighting words,” language the order used to describe conditions under which the conduct could be punishable.
In a statement provided through the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, Carey said he set out “to demonstrate that the First Amendment is sacred and that no administration has the right to supersede our constitutional rights.” He said, “I was targeted for federal prosecution because of that,” and added: “I am glad to stand with all those who are fighting for our fundamental rights and hope that this victory can help the next person who takes a stand.”
Carey also told the AP by telephone on Saturday that the outcome underscores “It shows people that ‘the Constitution still matters,’” the report said.
Carey’s lawyer, Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, said the prosecution should not have been brought. In a statement, she said the government’s effort “to criminally punish a protestor based on expressive conduct targeted for prosecution by presidential order posed a grave threat to First Amendment freedoms.” She added that the government’s reversal is “a critical vindication of those rights,” and said the case “lays the groundwork for defending those across the country who are targeted for vindictive prosecution by the Trump Administration in an effort to silence and punish viewpoints it doesn’t like.”