About 40 El Pasoans walked up Scenic Drive on Sunday to unfurl a large, upside-down U.S. flag – a symbol of distress – to express their concerns about a variety of Trump administration policies.
The 20-by-30-foot flag was visible from parts of West and Central El Paso, including Interstate 10, for about an hour Sunday morning.
Gabby Lopez said she came to the flag event because she’s experiencing “a lot of emotions around powerlessness, hurt, anger. A feeling of betrayal to some degree. It’s an overarching sense of feeling unsafe at home.”
Lopez said she is particularly concerned about what she sees as an intolerance of viewpoints that run counter to Trump’s.
“I think that particularly seeing the way in which aggression is increasing against people who express dissenting views is what is most worrisome, because we have been raised to believe and repeat that this is, air quotations, the land of the free, and that what sets us apart from so many other places in the world is that we can express opinions different to those than any of our politicians hold, and still be safe, and still be whole, and still be free outside of jail.”
The gathering brought together a coalition of El Pasoans who said in a statement: ““We are El Paso: a community in distress.”
“We are also a community that looks out for one another. We fly this flag as a sign of distress for the loss and struggle we, our loved ones, and our community are facing,” the statement by the unnamed group said.
The group said El Paso is a community that cares for seniors who could face a loss of Social Security; honors veterans who deserve benefits they’ve earned; respects children and women, who worry about losing access to medical care; champions students and schools facing cuts to public education; provides hospitality to migrants passing through the city; and cherishes diversity.
The flag display took place during a time when Scenic Drive is closed to vehicle traffic and open only to pedestrians, runners and bicyclists. Numerous people passed by the event, some complimenting the gathering and others moving by silently.
The U.S. Flag Code says the flag “should never be displayed with the union (field of stars) down, except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.” The inverted flag has been used as a symbol of political protest for more than 50 years by both the political right and left in the United States.
The flag display, including its folding at the end of the event, was overseen by a group of military veterans led by Diane Vega, who served in the Air Force.
Vega came to the event to raise awareness about actions by the Trump administration that she said threaten services for veterans, put immigrants at risk and threaten the right to dissent.
“Don’t wait until it affects you personally. Start getting active in your community. Get to know your neighbors,” she said.
Organizers said the El Paso flag display was inspired by a similar event on Feb. 22 at Yosemite National Park in California, when park workers displayed an upside-down flag at the El Capitan rock formation to draw attention to Trump administration efforts to cut the National Park Service workforce.
Victor Casas, an Army veteran who attended the flag display, said the first two months of the Trump administration have been “surreal.”
“Every time I read anything that has to do with the news, I still think I’m watching a Hollywood movie,” he said.
“All these changes have been very dramatic, and they’re affecting every human being in this country,” Casas said.
The flag will be sent to other communities for similar actions to signal distress. Organizers said the next stop for the flag is Tucson.
The post El Pasoans unfurl upside-down flag on Scenic Drive to protest Trump administration appeared first on El Paso Matters.
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