Friday, March 29, 2024

Alabama County Refuses to Lower Flag for Orlando Shooting Victims

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*A county in Alabama is refusing to lower its flags to half-staff in the wake of the Orlando mass shooting last weekend despite orders from both President Obama and Gov. Robert Bentley, reports CNN.

Baldwin County Commissioner Tucker Dorsey told CNN affiliate WPMI that even though his “heart certainly goes out to the victims and their families,” the massacre “doesn’t meet the test of the reason for the flag to be lowered” based on the U.S. Flag Code.

Dorsey noted that the code prescribes lowering the flag only on Memorial Day and when government officials die.

He reiterated these points in a Facebook post this week, noting that the county didn’t lower its flags in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino either.

“I realize that the President and Governor may make the order, but I believe and interpret their order inconsistent with the adopted flag code,” he wrote.

U.S. President Barack Obama receives a t-shirt from Mayor of Orlando Buddy Dyer (C) as he arrives in Orlando to meet with families of victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting, in Florida. ( REUTERS/Carlos Barria)
President Barack Obama receives a t-shirt from Mayor of Orlando Buddy Dyer (C) as he arrives in Orlando to meet with families of victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting, in Florida. (June 16, 2016)

It’s not the first time this week local government leaders have refused to fly the flag at half-staff. According to the The Jefferson City News-Tribune, commissioners in Cole County, Mo., voted on Tuesday morning to keep the flag at full staff. “Lowering it too much takes away from the honor. I feel for these victims and for their families, but I don’t feel this was a time for the flag to be lowered,” commissioner Jeff Hoelscher said, the publication reported.

But news of their decision caused such a backlash that commissioners reversed themselves hours later, according to the Kansas City Star.

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