From Staff Reports

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Justice has moved to dismiss misdemeanor charges against an Arden, N.C., man who made national headlines for burning the U.S. flag in front of the White House, Asheville television station WLOS (News 13) reported on March 15, citing the Associated Press as its source..

The court must still formally approve the dismissal and, if granted, it would bring an end to the case.

Jay Carey, 55, a veteran from Arden, was arrested on Aug. 25, after he was seen burning an American flag in Lafayette Park by the White House.

Officers detained Carey, extinguished the flames and turned Carey over to the the U.S. Park Police, according to the U.S. Secret Service.

“The U.S. Park police charged Carey with a violation of 36 CFR 2.13(a)(1), which prohibits unauthorized fires on federal property,” News 13 stated.

Carey said the act was meant to protest President Donald Trump’s executive order signed earlier that day, which directed the Justice Department to investigate and prosecute people who burn the American flag, The Associated Press reported.

The executive order, called “Prosecuting Burning of the American Flag,” contradicts a 1989 Supreme Court case in which the court ruled that the First Amendment of the Constitution protects flag burning.

“You burn a flag, you get one year in jail. You don’t get 10 years... you don’t get one month,” Trump said, according to The AP.

“Carey burned it anyway,” News 13 noted. 

Carey said in an Instagram post on his public profile that he was charged with lighting a fire in a park, adding:

“I did this in protest of what Donald Trump did with that executive order saying that it was illegal to burn a[n] American flag. He can’t make orders, so I wanted to put it to the test, so I did, and I’m not in jail for a year.”

In the same post, Carey described his arrest after the flag-burning incident as follows:

“I got searched, handcuffed, put in the back of one of their rides[...] wound up back at one of their holding cells,” he said in a video posted to Instagram. “They felt the need to search me three times.”

Carey subsequently netted more than 9,000 Facebook followers, News 13 reported. “Carey pleaded not guilty to the charges during his arraignment in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in September.

A filing made on March 13 indicates that federal prosecutors have moved to dismiss the case, but the filing did not explain the reasoning for the decision, the AP noted.

Carey, in a statement released by the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, stated that the protest was intended to highlight constitutional protections for free speech.

In the statement obtained by The AP, Carey asserted the following:

“I set out to demonstrate that the First Amendment is sacred and that no administration has the right to supersede our constitutional rights. I was targeted for federal prosecution because of that. I am glad to stand with all those who are fighting for our fundamental rights and hope that this victory can help the next person who takes a stand.”

News 13 added, “As previously reported, this is not the first time the disabled veteran from western North Carolina has made his name known across the country.

“In March 2025, Carey made national and international headlines after being escorted out of a town hall led by Congressman Chuck Edwards, who currently represents the state’s 11th congressional district.

As seen in a CNN clip that went viral on social media, Carey shouted at Edwards, R-Flat Rock, N.C., the following:

“I’m a veteran and you don’t give a f--k about me!” 

News 13 added. “At the town hall, more than 2,000 people showed up outside the Ferguson Auditorium at Asheville Buncombe Technical Community College, a venue that has a capacity of less than 400.

As previously reported, numerous constituents expressed their concerns with Edwards throughout the town hall, with some points of contention including federal funding cuts, Medicare, the Russia-Ukraine War and tariffs. The town hall lasted around 80 minutes.

In an interview with News 13 after his A-B Tech outburst, Carey told the TV station, “I was seeing red. I was angry, and I wasn’t going to be silenced.”