The administration of President Donald Trump has moved to end its prosecution of a United States Army veteran who burned a national flag to protest one of the president’s executive orders. The incident unfolded on August 25, in the hours after Trump signed an executive order calling for the prosecution of flag-burners. In the 1989 case Texas v Johnson, for instance, the high court held that “flag desecration is inconsistent with the First Amendment”, which protects free speech. It reaffirmed that decision a year later in 1990, when Congress passed a new Flag Protection Act to outlaw such destructive behaviour. At about 6:20pm US Eastern time (22:20 GMT) on August 25, Carey appeared in Lafayette Park, directly across from the White House. In his interview with Al Jazeera, Carey emphasised that Trump’s executive order is unenforceable — but that it does threaten to dampen free speech.