Bruceton Mayor Bob Keeton III used his authority Jan. 20 to raise the town’s American flag to half mast in front of city hall.
He posted a photo of the flag that he said he had personally raised himself on the town’s Facebook page with theses words:
“The town of Bruceton grieves for our Republic and our loss of freedoms. We mourn the victims of the Chinese plague and those that have suffered its deportations. We pray that God delivers and restores us and that we do not fall to the clutches of communism.”
As of Monday afternoon, Jan. 25, the post had been shared 813 times and had received 3.3K comments.
There were comments pro and con concerning what he had originally posted.
Apparently, the mayor is so grounded in his beliefs that our government is about to be taken over by communism because of the new administration in the White House that he lifts himself to the rank of governor and president. These two high ranking officials are normally the ones that call for the flag to be flown at half mast. He claims that it was not done to coincide with inauguration day.
During a phone conversation he said it was in conjunction with the death of a gentleman who died of COVID-19 at the town’s local nursing home.
But never did he add to the the town’s post to reflect this sentiment.
According to Wikipedia, in the United States, the President can issue an executive order for the flag of the United States to be flown at half-mast upon the death of principal figures of the U.S. government and others, as a mark of respect to their memory.
The law says governors of U.S. states and territories are authorized by federal law to order all U.S. and state flags in their jurisdiction flown at half-mast as a mark of respect for a former or current state official who has died in active duty.
There is nothing in the law that mentions a mayor being given this authority. However, what he has done is probably protected under the First Amendment.
The mayor has advocated at several town board meetings that if what is now the past president wasn’t re-elected the nation could fall into communism.
Apparently, he was a little more than upset that his choice for president didn’t win so he decided to lower the flag.
But all in all, his powers are very limited since there are only one or two flag poles in the town that he has authority over.
Inauguration Day is history now. For the time being the mayor will have to live under the present administration whether he likes it or not. Of course, as the alternative, he can move from America to a country of his choosing where perhaps he feels his freedoms are not THREATENED.
