COBB COUNTY, Ga. — A U.S. military veteran has been charged after police said he took someone’s American flag during a “No Kings” protest against the Trump administration.
Alec Whitaker told Channel 2 Cobb County Bureau Chief Michele Newell that he was participating in his first protest. He and others displayed American flags upside down as a sign of dissent.
Police said that angered Terry Jones, who saw it while driving by. He stopped his vehicle, confronted Whitaker and forcibly took the flag, they said.
“I was like, ‘Is he coming to me?’” Whitaker said. “And before I could even realize it, he reached out grabbed my flag pole, twisted it and ripped it out of my hands.”
He said the protest was peaceful until Jones confronted him. During the altercation, an elderly man who attempted to assist Whitaker was knocked to the ground.
Whitaker said he attempted several times to retrieve his flag, asserting his First Amendment rights.
Jones reportedly told Whitaker to “wear it right” during the struggle.
Police said they later found Jones, who admitted to the incident and returned the flag to the authorities.
Whitaker said he eventually got his flag back. Police told him Jones expressed regret for what he did.
“I don’t know what he went through as a veteran,” Whitaker said. “Maybe this unearthed some bad memories. I don’t want something on the record for the rest of his life over one silly mistake.”
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