Published on: Aug 29, 2025 09:45 pm IST
Jay Carey, a retired Army veteran, was arrested for burning the American flag outside the White House.
Jay Carey was arrested outside White House on Monday for burning the American Flag. According to the FOX5 report, the incident occurred in Lafayette Park just hours after President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at imposing penalties on those who burn the American flag. The Supreme Court previously ruled that flag burning constitutes protected speech under the First Amendment.
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About Jay Carey and his arrest outside White House
Carey is a retired Army combat veteran with 22 years of service and a Bronze Star recipient. According to the news website, he is registered as a Democrat. He served in the Tank Corps during Desert Storm and saw deployment in Afghanistan and Bosnia.
According to a social media video, he was spotted telling the passersby that Trump’s recent executive order violates the First Amendment. He said, “I served over 20 years in the United States Army. I fought for every single one of your rights to express yourself in however you feel that you may want to express yourself. It is a First Amendment right to burn the American flag,” as reported by Newsweek. He added that his actions were for every American citizen.
Carey further explained, “I’m burning this flag as a protest to that illegal fascist president that sits in that house. We burn this flag in protest to that president who feels that it’s his right to do whatever he wants, make whatever law he wants, regardless if it’s legal or illegal.”
He previously made headlines when he hurled the expletives at Republican Representative Chuck Edwards during a town hall in North Carolina, where he criticized cuts made by the Trump administration.
In the old clip, Carey could be heard shouting, “Do your job,” “you don’t get to do this,” and “f*** you.” He later shared in an interview with the Asheville Watchdog that he felt his actions were necessary. He added that it was the “only way” to “get his attention” and he wanted the same energy “from everyone—to stand up and to speak back to the representatives that aren’t serving us, as is their duty.”
Carey shared that he was later escorted out of the building, but no charges were filed against him. In 2022, he ran for Edward’s congressional seat but was defeated in the Democratic primary.
