Ashland, OR Citizens Burn the Flag in Solidarity with Jailed Activists

The following statement was read as the flag was ignited in front of the Civic Center in Ashland.


Two men were arrested Saturday, on trumped-up charges of Reckless Endangerment and Disorderly Conduct, while burning an American flag. They are being held at the county jail in Medford on $25,000 bail.

We stand in solidarity with our brothers in jail and for the protection of our Constitutional right to burn a flag in protest. We ask that Alyosha Witness and David Stone be released from jail and all charges be dismissed.

According to the Boy Scouts of America, when a flag is so worn or soiled it is no longer fit to serve as a symbol of our country, it should be destroyed by burning in a dignified manner.


Every flag in this country is soiled - soiled by the blood of innocent Iraqi civilians, soiled by the needless bloodshed of soldiers in an illegal war, soiled by Imperialism and the capitalist greed that values profit over all life.

Again we ask that the charges against these individuals be dropped. We will continue to meet in solidarity and in defense of our Constitutionally protected rights, until our request is met.