Video: Tense Standoff Over Upside-Down Flag at No Kings Protest in Bloomington, Indiana – 061425

Courtesy Video / ExploreAlways / Reddit

Staff report

Bloomington, Indiana – June 15, 2025

During the “No Kings” protest on June 14, 2025, in Bloomington, Indiana, a tense confrontation broke out on the northwest corner of the Monroe County Courthouse Square. A protester was exercising their First Amendment rights by displaying the U.S. flag upside down—a symbol of distress—when a man and his family confronted him, asking if he’d been in the military, then claiming he had no right to do so.

Another protester encouraged the symbolic act and flipped his flag upside down in solidarity.

The situation escalated when the instigator forcibly took the second protester’s flag and threw it. The flag landed on the ground, which violates flag code. Another protester stepped in to de-escalate the situation.

The man appeared to have brought his young sons and their mother to the protest, only for the woman to defend the children after her apparent partner initiated the altercation. The woman began yelling Trump, as she walked away.

This video clip was submitted to The Bloomingtonian and has been verified by staff who witnessed and photographed the same incident.

The protest also coincided with Flag Day.

Location: Monroe County Courthouse Square, Bloomington, Indiana
Date: Saturday, June 14, 2025
Source: Submitted to The Bloomingtonian

Here’s a link to what the American Legion says about flag code:

“(a) The flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.”

“(b) The flag should never touch anything beneath it, such as the ground, the floor, water, or merchandise.”

Also, after a flag touches the ground: “(k) The flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning. (Disposal of Unserviceable Flags Ceremony)”

https://www.legion.org/advocacy/flag-advocacy/flag-code

Also, while we’re here:

Photos by the Bloomingtonian below.

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