{"id":2272304,"date":"2024-06-20T08:42:02","date_gmt":"2024-06-20T12:42:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/illinois-lawmaker-seeks-to-criminalize-flying-american-flag-upside-down\/"},"modified":"2024-06-20T08:44:38","modified_gmt":"2024-06-20T12:44:38","slug":"illinois-lawmaker-seeks-to-criminalize-flying-american-flag-upside-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/illinois-lawmaker-seeks-to-criminalize-flying-american-flag-upside-down\/","title":{"rendered":"Illinois legislator proposes law to outlaw upside-down display of American flag"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fillinois-lawmaker-seeks-to-criminalize-flying-american-flag-upside-down%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2272304&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A veteran Illinois lawmaker is opposing \u200cnewly proposed legislation that would\u200d criminalize the act of deliberately flying an upside-down flag on government property. The \u200clegislation, introduced by State Rep. Harry Benton, aims\u2063 to\u2063 prevent acts deemed disrespectful to \u2062the flag.\u200d This initiative comes\u200c in response to an incident where Will County&#8217;s Homer \u200cTownship supervisor, \u2064Steve Balich, ordered\u200d the American flag to be flown\u200b upside down following the conviction of former\u2062 President Donald Trump on\u200b <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wednesday-october-13th-2021\/\" title=\"Wednesday | October 13th, 2021\">multiple felony charges<\/a>. Despite the controversy,\u200c State Rep. \u200cDavid Friess,\u2062 an Air Force veteran,\u2064 argues \u200bthat flying the flag upside down as a sign of distress \u200cis a\u2064 form \u2063of free\u2063 speech that should be respected. Benton\u2019s \u200cbill, House \u200bBill 5860, if \u2062passed, would\u200b specifically criminalize such acts by government \u2063officials\u2062 on government\u2064 property.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>(The Center Square) \u2013\u00a0A veteran Illinois lawmaker is in opposition to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hawaii-to-introduce-vaccine-passport-program\/\" title=\"Hawaii To Introduce Vaccine Passport Program\">recently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sasse-reintroduces-infant-protection-bill\/\" title=\"Sasse Reintroduces Infant Protection Bill\">introduced legislation<\/a><\/a> that would make it a crime for government officials to knowingly fly an upside down flag on government property.<\/p>\n<p>State Rep. Harry Benton has introduced legislation that would prohibit politically motivated efforts that disrespect the flag.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe flag of the United States is an enduring symbol of our national spirit and pride, and of the sacrifices made by every generation of Americans,\u201d said Benton. <\/p>\n<p>Benton is responding to a local incident in which a Will County official flew the American flag upside down after Donald Trump was convicted on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/judge-presiding-over-trumps-arraignment-bars-video-cameras-from-courtroom\/\" title=\"Judge Presiding Over Trump\u2019s Arraignment Bars Video Cameras From Courtroom\">34 felony counts<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Steve Balich, supervisor of Homer Township in Will County, reportedly ordered the national flag outside the Homer Township offices to be flown upside down after the conviction of former President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<p>The Center Square attempted to reach Balich for comment but he didn\u2019t immediately respond.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/shocking-number-of-front-line-health-care-workers-refusing-covid-19-vaccine\/\" title=\"Shocking Number of Front Line Health Care Workers Refusing COVID-19 Vaccine\">public official<\/a> who made this sad choice \u2013 to disrespect our nation\u2019s flag and everything it stands for \u2013 may be disappointed in the outcome of a certain criminal trial, but that is no excuse,\u201d said Benton. \u201cThat he then attempted to deflect rising outrage by draping himself in the very same flag he\u2019d just finished spitting on makes his actions all the more pathetic.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>State Rep. David Friess, an air force veteran, said he believes if an individual feels the country is in a time of distress, he or she should be able to fly the flag upside down.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven as a veteran, I don\u2019t lose my cool \u2026 I understand that one of the greatest freedoms we have is free speech and I may not agree with an individual if he or she flies the flag upside down, but I absolutely respect your right to do that,\u201d said Friess.<\/p>\n<p>Benton\u2019s House Bill 5860 would make it a crime for a government official to knowingly cause the national flag to be displayed upside down on government property.<\/p>\n<p>Friess said he doesn\u2019t think the bill will go anywhere, but he hopes Benton will couple the legislation with a measure prohibiting the burning of flags at Black Lives Matter or Pro-Palestine protests.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI would love to see him put out a bill that you can\u2019t burn a flag during a Pro-Hamas rally, a Pro-Palestinian rally or BLM rally,\u201d said Firess.<\/p>\n<p>Benton said in a news release, \u201cthat despite our differences, we\u2019re all Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Benton also filed House Bill 5861, which goes beyond making it a crime to fly an upside down flag but also makes it punishable by a fine of up to $25,000.<\/p>\n<p>Benton said in a news release that both of his bills, House Bill 5860 and House Bill 5861, clarify that the flag may only be flown upside down in situations where there is dire distress or extreme danger to life or property, the purpose for which such display is prescribed in the U.S. Flag Code.<\/p>\n<p>Friess said a large portion of the country believes America is in distress considering Trump was convicted while he\u2019s running for the presidency.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou have a former president prosecuted. And I firmly believe that the only reason he was prosecuted is because he\u2019s running for president again. Had he not thrown his hat in the ring for 2024 \u2026 they would not have prosecuted him, no doubt in my mind,\u201d said Friess.<\/p>\n<p>Benton said elected leaders swear an oath to the American flag and the nation it represents, not to a political leader.<\/p>\n<p>Friess said when he saw House Bill 5861 making the offense of flying a flag upside down punishable by a fine of up to $25,000, he laughed out loud.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis comes at a time when the Democrat party is doing everything they can to decriminalize any and all behavior. Anytime there\u2019s a penalty enhancement their hair catches on fire. So, you\u2019re going to fine somebody $25,000 for an expression of what I would think would be covered by the First Amendment,\u201d said Friess.<\/p>\n<p> Both bills could advance during the fall veto session in November. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A veteran Illinois lawmaker opposes new legislation criminalizing the act of intentionally flying an upside-down flag on government property. State Rep. Harry Benton has proposed a bill to ban politically motivated actions that disrespect the flag, emphasizing the importance of honoring national symbols<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2272305,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/AP21261542718230.jpg.optimal.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2272304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/AP21261542718230.jpg.optimal.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2272304","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2272304"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2272304\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2272305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2272304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2272304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2272304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}