Michael Snow Jr., a 25-year-old from Durham, North Carolina, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to four months of probation and 40 hours of community service. He was also ordered to pay $525 in restitution for damaging federal property. The incident occurred on July 24, 2024, when Snow set an American flag on fire in front of Union Station, Washington D.C., as a crowd chanted.
The sentencing was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin Jr., Acting Special Agent in Charge Courtland Rae of the FBI Washington Field Office Counterterrorism Division, and Chief Jessica M. E. Taylor of the U.S. Park Police.
Snow had pleaded guilty on February 11 to the charge of destruction of government property valued at less than $1,000.
Court documents revealed that an organization had received a permit to demonstrate at Columbus Circle near Union Station on July 24, 2024. During the demonstration from approximately 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., participants pulled down flags, burned them along with other objects, sprayed graffiti on statues and structures, and interfered with law enforcement efforts to arrest vandals.
The National Park Service estimated the cleanup and repair costs at $11,282.23 for damages to federal property including flags and statues.
Video footage captured two individuals lowering an American flag from its pole in Columbus Circle before it fell to the ground still attached to its halyard. Snow then grabbed the flag and carried it into a crowd where he attempted unsuccessfully to ignite it using a lighter while shouting for assistance: "I need a better lighter!" With help from another individual who provided charcoal lighter fluid, they succeeded in setting the flag ablaze.
Images of the incident were posted online on July 25, leading law enforcement officials to identify Snow through his driver's license photograph.
The investigation was conducted by the FBI Washington Field Office and USPP’s Intelligence and Counterterrorism Unit with support from the FBI Charlotte Field Office Raleigh Resident Agency. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sarah Martin and Brendan Horan are prosecuting this case.
Screenshots from surveillance cameras showed Snow grabbing the fallen flag while another video depicted him lighting it on fire alongside another individual who paraded around with it afterward.
