Supporter Former President Trump After the New York jury returned the guilty verdict, American flags across the country were turned upside down in a sign of protest against what is perceived as the weaponization of the American justice system.
At least one person was seen waving an upside-down American flag outside Trump Tower on Thursday as the former president returned from a Manhattan courtroom after a jury returned guilty verdicts on all 34 felony counts against him in his trial, where he was accused of concealing payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels and falsifying business records to influence the 2016 election.
Lara Trump, co-chair of the Republican National Committee and the former president’s daughter-in-law, and her eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., have shared images of the upside-down flag online, as has Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, a longtime Trump ally. Minutes after the guilty verdict was announced, Greene posted a photo of an upside-down American flag to X, and by Sunday morning the post had been viewed 10.4 million times.
Country music singer Jason Aldean also posted an upside-down flag to his Instagram account, according to Reuters.
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An upside-down American flag flies at the home of Don Tapia, a Trump donor and former ambassador to Jamaica, on May 30, 2024, in Paradise Valley, Arizona. (Don Tapia/Distributed via Reuters)
“This is a frightening time in our country,” Aldean wrote. “If there was ever a time to speak out, it’s now! Make no mistake: we are in danger.”
Reuters reported that Don Tapia, a former U.S. ambassador to Jamaica under Trump and a Republican donor, had flown an upside-down flag outside his Arizona home.
He told Reuters he had received calls of support and passing motorists honked their horns in approval, but he plans to put the flag back on Sunday.
Reuters reported that the Miami chapter of the Proud Boys posted an upside-down flag on Telegram, while a similar group, Patriot Voice, also wrote about the “grave distress” the group faced.
An American flag hangs upside down outside a home in East Bangor, Pennsylvania on May 31, 2024. (Reuters/Nathan Lane)
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Presidential historian Timothy Naftali told Reuters the upside-down flag was first used by sailors to signal distress in the 1700s and has a long history of being used in protests by Americans across the political spectrum. Naftali, a professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, said the flag was used by anti-slavery opponents in the mid-1800s and flown by Vietnam War protesters in the 1960s. The upside-down flag was also flown by protesters over the death of George Floyd in 2020 and after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
An upside-down American flag also sparked controversy after The New York Times reported in mid-May that it had been flown outside Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s home in Alexandria, Virginia, following the riots at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. The upside-down flag was raised by the rioters on January 6, and some media outlets have linked it to the “Stop the Steal” movement.
A Trump supporter waves an upside-down American flag during a demonstration outside Trump Tower in New York, Friday, May 31, 2024. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Pundits and podcast hosts with hundreds of thousands of followers, as well as ordinary Americans, rallied around an upside-down flag hours after President Trump was found guilty in his hush money trial in New York on Thursday.
The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, also posted an image to its X account showing an upside-down American flag flying next to one bearing the Heritage Foundation’s logo. Heritage is the group behind the Republican “Project 2025” playbook, which outlines how to restructure the federal government if Republicans win the presidential election in 2024.
An American flag is seen flying upside down at the conservative Heritage Foundation in Washington, Friday, May 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Other posts on social media described the ruling as a declaration of “war” or the beginning of a “civil war,” according to the Associated Press.
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Immediately after the ruling, the phrase “RIP America” trended on X.
Other widely shared posts referenced the demise or fall of the United States, often alluding to the fall of the Roman Empire. Elon Musk, owner of X, referenced the civil war that preceded the fall of the Roman Empire in a post on the social media platform. Former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswami also referenced the fall of the Roman Empire in a video statement published on X.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
