Thread: Protester has tough time getting permit to burn Mexican flag

Protester has tough time getting permit to burn Mexican flag outside Washington state Capitol
The Associated PressPublished: December 7, 2007

OLYMPIA, Washington: An anti-illegal immigration activist is unlikely to get a permit to burn a Mexican flag on the steps of the state Capitol because of air pollution concerns.

Nick Bradford, of Tacoma, said he wants to burn the flag when the legislative session opens in January to encourage the state to do more to crack down on illegal immigrants, including allowing local police to arrest people who enter the U.S. illegally.

"Obviously, the protest is intended to get the attention of the public, but also the politicians here, in Washington," Bradford said. "We can't always bark at the other Washington and George Bush. We can do things locally here."

Bradford recently called Visitors Services at the Capitol to ask about burning a flag on the steps, but officials were not sure whether it was allowed.

The Department of General Administration, which operates the building, checked with the Olympia Fire Department, which said any burning would have to be cleared by the Olympic Region Clean Air Agency, department spokesman Steve Valandra told The Olympian newspaper.

Today in Americas
Smugglers at U.S. border build an underground worldDemocrats call for inquiry in destruction of tapes by CIAU.S. secretary of state will seek support of Russia in stepping up pressure on Iran"Flag burning is a form of protected free speech, so if he wanted to get a permit to do this, GA would grant it to him, as long as he abided by whatever other preconditions existed," Valandra said.

But there is little chance the clean air agency would issue a permit, said Richard Stedman, executive director of the agency.

"Burning a flag produces a lot of toxic materials, such as dioxins, which are contained in the pigments and dyes," he said. "We would probably cite the person for burning prohibited materials. It's illegal to burn anything in the urban growth area."
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/12/ ... Permit.php

It's legal to burn the American flag, so its legal to burn the Mexican flag. He needs to get some legal advice outside his community.

I do not consider this the best method of protesting it turns off even the minority of Mexican American activists who join our side at protests.

If you burn the Mexican flag I bet it smells like burnt chicken.