Denver Post reporter Conrad Swanson defended the “Fuck the Feds” protestors on Friday after they pulled down an American flag outside the federal courthouse in Denver and raised it upside down:
Someone took the courthouse flag down and flipped it upside down. The courthouse is now flying the distress flag. pic.twitter.com/H5tKQCBNt6
— Conrad Swanson (@Conrad_Swanson) July 25, 2020
Criminals? For turning a flag upside down.
Aside from one guy who tried to break a window (and was shunned from the group) I can’t think of anything this crowd did tonight that could be thought of as anything other than peaceful. https://t.co/sk8VuWjQ88
— Conrad Swanson (@Conrad_Swanson) July 25, 2020
According to the U.S. flag code, “the flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.”
Despite what Swanson suggested calling it the “distress flag,” the American flag is still the American flag – whether flying union up or sending a distress signal union down.
As for the idea Swanson couldn’t think of “Fuck the Feds” as anything other than peaceful, the same evening in Portland rioters attacked the federal courthouse and injured six officers:
Rioters are using a circle saw to cut apart the fence protecting the federal courthouse. Video by @livesmattershow pic.twitter.com/okZ56jpH5B #PortlandRiots
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) July 25, 2020
Violent anti-federal law enforcement riots also broke out Saturday in Seattle.
Swanson went on to claim because he didn’t see the protestors physically damage the flag itself, he didn’t see anything illegal about their actions:
Did the damage it?
They did not.
— Conrad Swanson (@Conrad_Swanson) July 25, 2020
Swanson’s ignorance here is a bit stunning.
As his own paper reported following protests outside of the Aurora ICE facility last summer, one woman involved in pulling the American flag down was cited for criminal tampering. This is an important distinction, as she was not actually cited for damaging the flag itself.
The circumstances outside the courthouse in terms of pulling down the flag appear similar, although could be even more serious considering this all transpired on federal property.
As the Trump administration has demonstrated over the last several weeks, the federal government has the full legal authority to hold protestors accountable for committing property crimes against the federal government.
It is dismaying that the Denver Post is employing biased antifa activists with so little understanding of basic civics.