Gregory ‘Joey’ Johnson, who brought flag-burning case to Supreme Court in 1989, arrested after burning flag in front of White House

At a July 4, 2019 protest in Washington, D.C., Gregory “Joey” Johnson was arrested after burning two flags in front of the White House and getting into an altercation with counterprotesters. 

Key Players

Gregory “Joey” Johnson is an avowed communist activist known for his role in the 1989 Supreme Court case Johnson v. Texas, in which flag-burning was recognized as a constitutionally protected form of speech. He burned a flag in front of the White House on July 4 as a protest and was joined by members of the Revolution Club, a leftist group that advocates for people to “imagine a world without America.”

Proud Boys counterprotesters reportedly heard, while at a bar near the White House, about Johnson’s plan to burn the flag and tried to stop him from doing so. After taking the burning flag and extinguishing it, they attempted to attack Johnson. The Proud Boys are an ultraconservative group — made up solely of men — that promotes white nationalism.

Further Details

Before his protest on the Fourth of July, Johnson obtained a permit from the National Park Service to burn one U.S. flag in front of the White House and was given a 30-gallon drum in which he could safely carry out his gesture, according to The Washington Post. As Johnson began to burn the flag, he was interrupted by two members of the Proud Boys. They took the flag and juggled it, attempting to put the flames out, but it was mostly disintegrated. Other protesters from Johnson’s group linked arms and formed a circle around him when the Proud Boys appeared; after the flag had burned, the Proud Boys, yelling expletives, attempted to break the circle and confront Johnson, according to a video of the incident posted on Twitter.

Johnson was then arrested, as his fellow protesters shouted that it was legal to burn the flag. The Secret Service released a statement later that day, explaining that Johnson had burned it outside the bounds outlined in the permit. In the statement, the Secret Service said that two individuals had been arrested: one for felony assault on a police officer and malicious burning (presumably Johnson), and the other for obstructing a police investigation and resisting arrest (identified in court documents as Joseph Scogin). In the affidavit filed after Johnson’s arrest, the Secret Service asserted that Johnson had doused a second flag in inflammable liquid, lit it, and hit an officer with it, leading to the charges against him. No Proud Boys were arrested, and some reports state that the police escorted them back to the bar they had come from. 

Court documents show that, following arraignment, Johnson’s charges were reduced to two counts of disorderly conduct: one to incite violence and the other to cause unreasonable fear. Scogin’s charges appear to have been dropped entirely. 

Outcome 

Johnson’s court date set

According to court documents, Johnson was scheduled to appear for his Misdemeanor Initial Status Hearing on Aug. 1, 2019. However, the hearing has been rescheduled for Sept. 10.