Going headfirst into a steaming cauldron of anti-American hate, one man who had seen enough rescued Old Glory from the fires of Hamas supporters as they marched Wednesday in Washington D.C.
Hamas supporters protested Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress by hoisting a Palestinian flag over Washington’s Union Station, burning American flags, and chanting anti-Israeli and anti-American slogans, as noted by Fox News.
“Less than a mile from the U.S. Capitol, pro-Hamas protestors have taken down and burned AMERICAN FLAGS at Union Station to fly Palestinian flags. Absolutely SHAMEFUL,” Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama posted on X.
One unnamed patriot, however, pushed back.
A man saves a smoldering American flag from the center of the protest and is nearly tackled amidst shouts “get him!” pic.twitter.com/ZHexsEZbak
— Richie🎥McG🍿 (@RichieMcGinniss) July 24, 2024
“A man saves a smoldering American flag from the center of the protest and is nearly tackled amidst shouts ‘get him!’,” video editor Richie McGinnis wrote in a post on X.
The video posted shows the crowd calling for the man to be stopped. One protester closes in enough to tear a piece of the flag from the rescuer’s hands as he escaped with one remnant of what the Hamas supporters had tried to burn.
“The dude who saved the flag is a lawyer who works nearby. Said he saw the flag burning and had to do something,” McGinnis wrote in a post that showed the man, with his face scratched out, holding the scrap of flag he was able to save.
Would you attempt to do the same thing as this man?
The dude who saved the flag is a lawyer who works nearby. Said he saw the flag burning and had to do something https://t.co/t3p4gZcVRK pic.twitter.com/jjZxwUdQef
— Richie🎥McG🍿 (@RichieMcGinniss) July 24, 2024
In another post, McGinnis spoke to the hero.
In a video that does not show the man’s face, he said, “They ripped it right out of my hands.”
“Well, I’m ashamed I didn’t stop and go back and get the whole thing,” he said.
“I grabbed what I could out of the fire and ran”
The man, who asked to remain anonymous for obvious reasons, is an attorney who works nearby pic.twitter.com/qDSGqLifqc
— Richie🎥McG🍿 (@RichieMcGinniss) July 24, 2024
The man told McGinnis “I heard a loud pop … and I saw the American flags coming down, and I went to go see what happened to them.”
“I saw they were being burned, and I grabbed what I could out of the fire and ran,” he said.
This vitriolic behavior goes beyond peaceful protests and free speech. It will only further incite violence.
Our nation’s leaders on both sides of the aisle must fully denounce this ugly, pro-Hamas extremism and make clear that antisemitism has no place in America.
— Michael McCaul (@RepMcCaul) July 24, 2024
The Washington Post reported that 23 people were arrested in a day of protests that saw thousands massing on the streets of the nation’s capital amid the burning of American flags.
