Charges Against Viral Urbana Flag-Burner Snuffed Out

By Gwendolyn Purdom in News on Jul 5, 2016 8:48PM

Charges won't be filed against the 22-year-old Illinois man who was arrested Monday after he posted images of himself burning an American flag on social media, the Urbana News-Gazette reported.

Bryton Mellott ignited, well, a firestorm when he shared several images on Facebook of himself holding a burning flag along with a caption that read, in part:

"I am not proud to be an American. In this moment, being proud of my country is to ignore the atrocities committed against people of color, people living in poverty, people who identify as women, and against my own queer community on a daily basis … I do not have pride in my country. I am overwhelmingly ashamed, and I will demonstrate my feelings accordingly. #ArrestMe."

And arrest him the Urbana Police Department did. Tuesday afternoon, authorities back-tracked, and the department released a statement supporting Champaign County's State's Attorney Julia Rietz's earlier statement saying Mellott would not be charged as his actions are protected under the First Amendment as free speech. The police first charged Mellott under the Illinois Flag Desecration Act, which State's Attorney Rietz called "contradictory to the US Supreme Court ruling in Texas v. Johnson."

Urbana police sergeant Andrew Charles told the News-Gazette that Mellott was initially charged out of concern for his own safety and the safety of others at his workplace, Wal-Mart, because the post had sparked such an intense response online.

A Facebook user who appears to be Mellott wrote, "So it'd be super-duper if the death threats could stop."

Mellott didn't respond to Chicagoist's request for comment.