Army veteran Jay Carey stands outside Union Station in Washington on Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025. Carey faces two criminal misdemeanor charges after igniting an American flag in Lafayette Park, across from the White House. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
WASHINGTON — Attorneys for an Army combat veteran facing two federal criminal charges after he burned an American flag in view of the White House are seeking to dismiss the case with video evidence collected from police-worn body cameras at the incident.
Jan “Jay” Carey, a former Army sergeant first class, is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Monday for a status conference over his attorneys’ claim that he was the target of “vindictive prosecution” after engaging in protest activities protected under the First Amendment.
Police-worn body cameras show officers discussing an executive order by President Donald Trump directing prosecution for “flag desecration” and conferring with the U.S. attorney’s office prior to Carey’s arrest, according to the Partnership for Civil Justice.
Trump has “declared his intention to suppress lawful speech with regard to the constitutional right to flag-burning as a matter of protected expression, stating: ‘We took the freedom of speech away,’ ’’ said Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, executive director of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund and its project, the Center for Protest Law and Litigation.
Carey is a recipient of a Bronze Star who served from 1989 to 2012, according to Army records. He deployed to Kuwait, Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, which represents Carey, is asking the court to dismiss the two criminal charges, which are both misdemeanors and carry a maximum sentence of six months in prison.
Carey stated that he intentionally ignited a 3-by-5-foot flag on a sidewalk at Lafayette Park in view of the White House as an act of political protest hours after Trump signed an executive order directing the “prosecution of American flag desecration to the fullest extent possible.”
“Although we respect the First Amendment, there is a law that prohibits the burning of anything, including a flag, on federal property,” said Tim Lauer, spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office, according to the Associated Press.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
The 54-year-old veteran from North Carolina pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in September.
Video footage from police-worn body cameras showed that officers discussed the president’s executive order as a basis to arrest Carey, according to court documents.
“United States Park Police command staff consulted with at least one assistant United States attorney as to how to charge Mr. Carey, orders that were then passed down to the arresting officers,” attorneys for the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund said in court documents.
Army combat veteran Jay Carey is arrested after he burned an American flag in Lafayette Park across from the White House. Carey, of North Carolina, said he and several other veterans traveled to the nation’s capital to protest policies by President Donald Trump’s administration. (Jay Carey)
The video footage showed U.S. Park Police Officer Enrique Wong arriving at Lafayette Park while Carey was handcuffed, according to court documents.
“Officer Wong told U.S. Park Police Officer Andrew Patton, ‘So the President just today signed an executive order that says we’re arresting him. We got that going for us. The executive order is signed,’ ” according to court documents.
In United States v. Jan Carey, the veteran is charged with lighting a fire in an undesignated area and lighting a fire in a manner that causes damage to real property or park resources, according to court documents.
Carey said he and several other veterans were in Washington to peacefully protest the deployment of Army National Guard troops to the nation’s capital. The troops were ordered by Trump to address crime.
“This was a direct protest about an illegal law President Trump tried to put in place,” Carey said after he was detained by uniformed Secret Service agents and arrested by federal park police.
But neither of the misdemeanor charges directly addresses flag burning, according to the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund.
Carey’s attorneys argued that lighting a fire as an act of civil protest is not expressly forbidden at Lafayette Park, and the charges are more commonly used to prosecute individuals who light fires in federally protected wilderness areas, such as Yellowstone Park, according to court documents.
“Historic practice … confirms that the use of fire for expressive purposes is permitted within Lafayette Park. Candlelight vigils occur frequently in Lafayette Park, and permits are issued for vigils involving hundreds or thousands of candle-bearing participants,” according to court documents.
Flag burning was protected as symbolic speech by a Supreme Court ruling in 1989, after a flag was burned outside the Republican National Convention in Texas to protest policies of then-President Ronald Reagan.
