Flag burning sets off clash at pedestrian mall in Iowa

IOWA CITY, Iowa — A group of protesters set fire to multiple American flags on the Iowa City pedestrian mall on Thursday, setting off a scuffle and heated verbal arguments with bystanders.

The flag burning was meant to protest racial and social injustice and U.S. imperialism, the group said.

"When I see the flag, I see racial injustice," said Paul Osgerby of Iowa City. "I see social injustice from Native American genocide to African-American slavery to failing to recognize women as citizens until the 20th century."

Still, the actions caused a scene on the pedestrian mall across from the Old Capitol Mall, as onlookers shouted and a man in a FedEx uniform, Matt Uhrin, rushed out with a fire extinguisher to put out the blaze. Uhrin took one of the flags from protesters, scuffling with a number of protesters in the process.

Uhrin declined to comment except to say his actions were not related to his employer.

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One onlooker, Bob Guyer, said the act was disrespectful to military veterans.

"Probably every one of them has a relative at one point or another that died for that," Guyer said, referring to the flag. "That's not free speech. Too many people have died for it," he said.

But Osgerby said the group's action was taken in part because of what he considers the threat of fascism in the United States under President Trump, including Trump's order for federal agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency to halt their communication with the public through news releases and social media.

"We are looking at fascism, and I believe that it’s my First Amendment right to protest that in a nonviolent way," Osgerby said.

Two members of the group, Osgerby and Kelli Ebensberger, also of Iowa City, were charged with violating Iowa City's public burn ordinance, a simple misdemeanor punishable by up to 30 days in jail or a fine of up to $625.

Iowa City Police Sgt. Scott Gaarde said the two were charged because they failed to seek a permit from the fire department to burn the flags, not because of what they were burning. Iowa has a law on the books that makes it illegal to defile, cast contempt upon, satirize or deride a flag. That law, however, was declared unconstitutional by a federal judge in December 2014 and state prosecutors were told not to enforce it.

"It’s not for the content of what they were burning but rather for violating the city ordinance of open burning," Gaarde said.

Follow Stephen Gruber-Miller on Twitter: @sgrubermiller