July 4, 2020 | revcom.us

 

“On July 4th, I will be burning the American flag at Los Angeles press conference.”

Trump's fascist threats at Mt. Rushmore make Gregory “Joey” Johnson action all the more important.

 

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

 

12:30 pm Press Conference, Sunset Blvd. & Cahuenga Blvd Los Angeles
1:00 pm Rally & March, Sunset Blvd. & Cahuenga Blvd
4:00 pm Celebration & Program, MacArthur Park (7th St. & Park View St.)
B.Y.O. Flag to Desecrate, Art & Theater Welcome
INFO: revclub_LA@yahoo.com @revclub_LA @TheRevComs  
Washington, DC, NYC, Chicago July 4 flag burning protest info below

Hashtags #July4BurnFlag / #FlagBurningChallenge

“Our nation is witnessing a merciless campaign to wipe out our history, defame our heroes, erase our values, and indoctrinate our children. Angry mobs are trying to tear down statues of our founders, deface our most sacred memorials, and unleash a wave of violent crime in our cities...the American people are strong and proud and they will not allow our country and all of its values, history, and culture to be taken from them.” 
—Donald J. Trump, July 3 2020

Friday the fascist Donald Trump traveled to Mt. Rushmore where he issued a monstrous call to protect the legacy of the white supremacy and threatened demonstrators who have been heroically demanding that this END NOW. His answer to this is to arrest and prosecute people for telling the truth about the history of this country and the symbols of slavery and oppression that Trump calls "our most sacred memorials." There is a straight line from the Confederacy to the fascists of today.

Trump's threats make it all the more important to attend and cover the 12:30 am Los Angeles press conference where Gregory "Joey" Johnson, the defendant in the landmark 1989 Supreme Court case establishing flag burning as constitutionally protected speech, will be burning the American flag.

Statement from Gregory "Joey" Johnson:

“On July 4th I will be present at the ‘Demonstrate How to Dishonor the American Flag’ called by the Revolution Club in Los Angeles. I will be burning the American flag in protest and in defiance of the fascist Trump’s call to re-criminalize burning the flag in protest.

“Trump is attempting to overturn the decision in my Supreme Court case, Texas v Johnson (1989) that decided burning the flag in protest is constitutionally protected speech. Trump is fighting for a fascist clampdown of force patriotism – by criminalizing disrespect for the flag, he is forcing respect for the flag.

“A year in jail for flag burning?! Forced patriotism = fascism. I’m going to defy Trump by burning that flag and you should do the same!

“Defy the fascist in chief, the white supremacist in chief, the misogynist, xenophobic, jingoistic, America first chauvinist imperialist in chief! We all should have nothing but contempt and revulsion for him and his fascist regime – and be determined to mobilize millions of people to drive the regime from power!

“It is fitting Trump claims the flag because behind all the mythology the American flag has always been about slavery, genocide, war, white supremacy, — it is worn as a shoulder patch by police that murder Black and Brown people every day, it flies over the mass incarceration prisons in this country packed with mainly Black and Brown and Native people, it flies over the concentration camps holding our immigrant sisters and brothers, it is worn on the lapels of the legislatures stripping women of the right to abortion, it is a flag that blesses the planes and bombs and troops, as the “glorious” military of this country — which is a massive machinery of slaughter and war crimes and crimes against humanity.

“The revolutionary leader, Bob Avakian says, 'Internationalism—The Whole World Comes First!', and he says, 'American lives are not more important than other people’s lives.' Humanity first, not America first! This is what should be coursing through our hearts and minds and actions on July 4th.”

Johnson is calling on all who oppose oppression and injustice to make this July 4 a day of defiant flag burning actions, and to let others know by posting photos and videos on social media with the hashtags #July4BurnFlag and #FlagBurningChallenge.

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.

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

Revolution Club: This July 4th: Demonstrate How to Dishonor the American Flag

• Washington, DC: 7 30 pm, Lafayette Park / front of White House
• New York City: 4:00 pm, gather at Columbus Circle
• Chicago: 4:00 pm, Logan Square (Illinois Centennial Monument)
• Click HERE for contact info

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