Despite orders from President Obama and Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley (R) to lower flags to half staff in the wake of the deadly shooting in Orlando, Florida, one county official in Alabama refused.
Baldwin County Commissioner Tucker Dorsey said that the shooting was not a “valid circumstance” according to the U.S. Flag Code. The code requires flags to fly at half staff on Memorial Day and after the death of a government official, and also allows the President to add more rules regarding the flag.
In a Facebook post, Dorsey wrote that his “soul aches for the families of the innocents killed, and my family prays for them and the world” but argued that the flag should not be flown at half staff following the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.
“When the flag is at half-staff, our country’s head is figuratively held low, and quite frankly, I am not willing to hang my head down because of a terrorist attack against our people and our allies. I am not willing to hang my head down because evil shoots up a church, school, or movie theater,” he wrote. “We need more than a gesture as a response. I want us, as Americans, to stand tall, courageously, and fight back against the forces of evil, and let’s fight like we intend to win.”
Dorsey also refused to lower the flag to half staff following the attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California, last year, according to NBC News. In his Facebook post, he expressed frustration that he again had to explain his view on the flag.
“Once again I have to copy this post regarding lowering the flags because another follower of Islam decided to shoot up a bunch of innocents in a place where they didn’t have the chance to defend themselves or flee,” he wrote. “When are we going to acknowledge the truth? When will we stop the PC and identify the enemy?”
