Former NC candidate charged for fire he set to protest Trump's flag-burning order

Danielle Battaglia, The News & Observer (Raleigh) on Aug 26, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

WASHINGTON — A North Carolina man standing in Lafayette Park across from the White House on Monday afternoon leaned over and poured a liquid over an American flag.

He then picked up a megaphone that let out a squawk before he started speaking, causing children standing only a few feet away to turn around.

“My name is Jay Carey and I’m a retired, disabled combat veteran,” he said into his microphone. “I served over 20 years in the United States Army. I fought for every single one of your rights so you can express yourself however you want to express yourself.”

Then he tells the crowd now paying full attention to him that it is a First Amendment right to burn the American flag.

Hours earlier, President Donald Trump sat in the Oval Office and signed an executive order that challenges Attorney General Pam Bondi to prosecute people who burn American flags, while not running afoul of the Constitution.

A 1989 U.S. Supreme Court ruling found that burning a flag is protected under the First Amendment, making Trump’s executive order difficult if not impossible to carry out.

Back in Lafayette Park, Carey, 54, of Arden, was standing over an American flag soaked in an accelerant.

“No president can make a law, period,” Carey said. “No Congress can make a law infringing on First Amendment rights. I’m burning this flag as a protest to that illegal fascist president that sits in that house.”

Carey pointed toward the White House as he punctuated his sentence and then leaned over and set the flag on fire. Several people recorded the moment on their phones and posted it to social media.

Secret Service officers led Carey away from the flag and handcuffed him as people standing nearby told the officers that arresting him was a violation of Carey’s First Amendment rights.

Carey spent only a few hours in custody before being released Monday night, he said after returning to the area and appearing in a TikTok video to explain his arrest. He said U.S. Park Police charged him for lighting a fire in a park.

U.S. Park Police spokesman Sgt. Thomas Twiname confirmed to McClatchy the department arrested an individual at 6:30 p.m. in Lafayette Park for prohibited fire.

Lafayette Park, formerly Lafayette Square, is a 7-acre park in front of the White House that includes statues of several Revolutionary War heroes, including the Marquis De Lafayette, as well as President Andrew Jackson, whose statue is at the park’s center.

Carey ran in 2022 to represent North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District, but lost the Democratic primary. Rep. Chuck Edwards, a Republican, won the general election.

In March, Carey was escorted by police out of a town hall hosted by Edwards for a shouting expletives at Edwards for his support of Trump.

_____