According to WUSA9, the actions of the protesters were not approved by everyone present during the burning of the flag and the action threatened to develop into a mass brawl.
In his speech, Donald Trump said that “now we are in the process of defeating the radical left, Marxists, anarchists, instigators, marauders and people who in many cases themselves absolutely do not understand what they are doing”. The head of the White House also warned that he would not allow "to overthrow our statues, erase our history and trample on our principles". When Trump was saluting the American flag, protesters burned the flag near the White House.
The Black Lives Matter movement burned the American flag in New York, shouting: "America has never been great."
At the end of June, against the background of mass protests, Trump made an appeal to put on a year in prison for burning the American flag. Currently, the punishment for such an act in relation to a state symbol is not provided for by the legislation of the country.
But the new decree, signed by the American president on June 27, provides for up to 10 years in prison for vandalism against monuments, statues, etc.
However, the brutal punishment for defiling the monuments did not stop the protesters on United States Independence Day. In Baltimore, protesters demolished a pedestal and drowned a monument to Christopher Columbus in the bay, AP said.
The monument was erected in 1984. The protesters considered the discoverer of the continent guilty of genocide of indigenous peoples of America. Previously, protesters demolished and demolished the Columbus monuments in Miami, Richmond, St. Paul and Boston.