Three people were arrested for burning the American flag during a May Day protest in a park in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The three were protesting with 12 others on Tuesday evening when they pulled out a flag, doused it in “ignitable liquid" and set it alight, Fox News reported.
As long established, the act of burning a flag on its own is not considered an illegal act in the U.S. since it is protected free speech under the First Amendment, according to LawDictionary.com, but starting a fire without a permit in a public place can be illegal.
That’s what led to the arrests of Landon Rice, 23, VanaMary Isaac, 26, and Dhruv Pathak, 24. They were charged with carelessness with fire and injury to real property, the Charlotte Observer reported.
It wasn’t the first time Rice and Pathak have been arrested during protests in Charlotte.
Court documents show Rice was previously charged with resisting arrest and impeding traffic while Pathak faced similar charges and also second degree trespass, disorderly conduct and assault on a government official.
The three were among thousands of demonstrators around the world who gathered on Tuesday to participate in May Day rallies calling for better working conditions and other issues, CNN reported.
In the U.S., activists targeted the Trump administration's immigration policies.
"The Trump administration has made very clear that they've declared war on the immigrant community on all levels," said Javier Valdes, co-executive director of the advocacy group Make the Road New York, The Chicago Tribune reported.
Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights in Los Angeles, said that once the rallies were over, immigrants would join other fringe groups such as the LGBTQ, African-American and women's organizations to push for the election of new leaders.
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