“The free speech that he was exhibiting, while it was distasteful to some, free speech is free speech,” Charles told me. Mellott’s Facebook page also included the name of his employer, which created a problem, Charles added. In this moment, being proud of my country is to ignore the atrocities committed against people of color, people living in poverty, people who identify as women, and against my own queer community on a daily basis,” Mellott wrote on Facebook in a post. The calls prompted the Urbana Police Department to investigate Mellott’s Facebook page, where he had posted photos of him burning an American flag along with the following commentary. The calls started coming in around 7:30 a.m., Sergeant Charles told me over the phone. Monday after police received numerous calls from citizens concerned about his safety and theirs. This is the first time the Urbana Police Department has seen the flag desecration statute used in 27 years.īryton Mellott was booked into the Campaign County Jail at about 9:47 a.m. A 22-year-old Illinois man has been charged with desecrating the American flag after he posted photos on Facebook FB along with messages decrying the state of violence and race in the U.S.
