July 1, 2020 | revcom.us

 

Gregory “Joey” Johnson, Defendant in Landmark Supreme Court Decision, Texas v. Johnson (1989), to Defy Trump AGAIN: #July4BurnFlag / #FlagBurningChallenge

1 July 2020 For immediate release
Gregory “Joey” Johnson available for interviews
Contact: 323.245.6947 / DefendJohnsonOfTvJ@gmail.com / @joey4revolution

LA Times: "Meet the man who made it legal to burn the American flag"

As Donald Trump continues to threaten violence against those righteously protesting police murder and to criminalize the basic political right of flag burning, Gregory "Joey" Johnson, the notorious flag burner of Texas v. Johnson, the 1989 ruling making flag burning constitutionally protected speech, will again defy Trump.

In 2019, Johnson, together with the Revolution Club, burned an American flag in front of the White House, an action that drew global news coverage. This year Johnson states,

“I am determined to defy Trump on July 4th,” Johnson states, “by burning an American flag at a fitting symbol of Trump and his fascist regime. And I'm calling on everyone who stands against injustice and oppression to join me.”

“In the beautiful uprising sparked by the brutal and sickening murder of George Floyd, people have righteously torn down statues of white supremacists and genocidal murderers of Native Americans. And they have burned the American flag because it is a cloth monument to the same and more!

“As abolitionist and former slave Frederick Douglass said in an 1852 July 4th speech, ‘For revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy, America reigns without a rival,’” Johnson adds, “and those words echo down to today.”

Johnson will be supporting the Revolution Club's @therevcoms call: “This July 4th: Demonstrate How to Dishonor the American Flag.”

“Be safe, don't endanger others,” Johnson says, “but wherever you are in this country or around the world, help make this July 4th a day of defiant flag burning actions! Then let others know by posting photos and videos on social media with the hashtags #July4BurnFlag and #FlagBurningChallenge.”

Gregory “Joey” Johnson will be interviewed about plans for #July4BurnFlag on The RNL-Revolution Nothing Less-Show, Thursday, July 2, 5pm PT, 8pm ET.

Also: Bob Avakian on Fredrick Douglass: “What to the slave is your 4th of July,” @Carl_Dix interviews @MrChuckD and more

Joey Johnson is an active member of the Revolution Club and a follower of the revolutionary communist leader Bob Avakian. For more go to revcom.us.

Robin Abcarian, “Meet the man who made it legal to burn the American flag,” Los Angeles Times, July 1, 2020:

Gregory “Joey” Johnson plans to burn a flag on July 4 to protest the president’s suggestion that flag burning be outlawed...

Gregory “Joey” Johnson is not willing to say where he will be on July 4 — “It’s a big country, so who knows?” — but he will definitely be somewhere in the public square, advocating an end to white supremacy, institutionalized racism and police brutality. In all likelihood, he will also burn an American flag....

July 4, 2019—In the face of Mein Trumpf's militarist orgy the burning flags light up a different future