Only in today’s America could lowering the flag for a slain patriot become a political football. After President Donald Trump ordered U.S. flags to be flown at half-staff to honor Charlie Kirk — assassinated while defending free speech at a Turning Point USA event — Democratic mayors like John Laesch of Aurora, Illinois, decided they knew better. Instead of unity, we got defiance. Instead of decency, we got politics.
A memo from Aurora Fire Chief David McCabe, now circulating on social media, made the mayor’s orders clear: “As directed by the mayor, all City of Aurora buildings, including the fire stations, are to have their flags at full staff… Someone will be coming around to raise all station flags to full staff.” And just in case firefighters wanted to honor the fallen on their own? Forget it. The memo warned that any attempt to return flags to half-staff would be considered “a violation of a direct order.” Bureaucracy at its finest.
Local firefighters weren’t exactly thrilled. The union struck a deal so members wouldn’t have to be the ones physically raising the flags. One video even showed the assistant fire chief himself hoisting Old Glory back to full staff. Franck Ricci, a retired firefighter, summed it up perfectly: “In flagrant disregard for unity, the mayor and chief raised the flags, chasing cheap political points over national mourning.” Couldn’t have said it better myself.
What makes this even more shameful is that Kirk wasn’t just a national figure — he was one of their own. Born and raised in the Chicago suburbs, less than an hour from Aurora, Kirk was a local son. Yet instead of honoring him, Laesch claimed his focus was on remembering September 11th, saying that lowering the flag too often “diminishes the importance” of solemn acts. Really? Honoring a 31-year-old patriot gunned down for exercising his First Amendment rights somehow diminishes 9/11? That’s not leadership, that’s excuse-making.
And Aurora wasn’t alone. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass also ordered flags to stay at full staff, while in Iowa, Johnson County Supervisor Jon Green openly defied his Republican governor’s proclamation to lower the flag. Unity, apparently, is optional when it doesn’t fit the left’s agenda.
Charlie Kirk’s assassination was not just an attack on a man, but on the values he stood for: truth, faith, family, and freedom. Lowering the flag was the very least we could do as a nation. President Trump understood that. Even Illinois’ Democrat governor JB Pritzker, while careful to avoid mentioning Kirk by name, issued a proclamation for half-staff. But Democrat mayors decided to play politics with patriotism.
The flag is supposed to unite us, to remind us of sacrifice, and to honor those who gave their lives for America. Refusing to lower it for Charlie Kirk doesn’t just dishonor his memory — it dishonors us all. Thankfully, the people — and the firefighters who stood against this order — know better. Because patriots don’t need permission to remember a hero.
