Trump cracking down on burning American flag with executive order

(NewsNation) — President Trump plans to sign an executive order Thursday that would seek to criminalize certain actions related to burning the American flag, NewsNation has learned.

The order would direct Attorney General Pam Bondi to review cases where someone burned an American flag and determine whether charges can be brought under existing laws such as public nuisance, disorderly conduct or potential environmental violations, two administration officials told NewsNation.

This would not criminalize the actual burning of the American flag, one administration official told NewsNation.

If someone is injured, for instance, as a result of a flag burning, then charges could be brought, one of the sources explained.

The objective would be to get around legal hurdles because the burning of an American flag is not illegal. On June 21, 1989, a divided U.S. Supreme Court upheld the rights of protesters to burn the flag in a landmark First Amendment decision ruling the action was protected speech.