Probably by now you’ve heard of the U.S. Army veteran named Jim Broussard who recently cut down a couple of flags above a Reno bar because the bar owner (a Mexican-American) was flying a Mexican flag above the Stars and Stripes.
When Broussard heard about this abomination, he marched down to the Cantina El Jaripeo and–with television cameras rolling–cut down both flags. He tossed the Mexican flag on the ground, raised the U.S. flag to the camera and blurted, “I’m Jim Broussard, and I took this flag down in honor of my country.” Then he ranted for a few more moments and ended by saying that the bar owner would have to fight to get his flag back.
Now, it is true that the flag code prohibits flying the U.S. flag below any other.
Naturally, there has been much discussion about whether Broussard’s actions were patriotic or criminal, but I think an even better question is, “Should flying another flag above the U.S. flag even be illegal in the first place?”
