On August 2, members of the Black Lives Matter Protest burned the American flag. Police soon arrived to control the ever-escalating situation. This story and its image of the burning flag quickly made national news and once again asked the question of whether or not the burning of the American flag was or was not protected by the First Amendment. Indeed, the First Amendment does protect such action as flag burning because it is seen as symbolic speech. The First Amendment's freedom of speech clause protects any and all speech as long as the speech does not DIRECTLY call for or incite violence. That means that even offensive speech is protected. Unpopular or possibly offensive speech is protected so that the general public has the personal freedom to determine which speech is or is not socially correct or acceptable.
Also, there is already a precedent set for an action such as flag burning in the cases of Texas v. Johnson (1989) and United States v. Eichman (1990). In both cases, the Supreme Court upheld the right to burn flags as they saw it as a version of symbolic speech.
link: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/black-lives-matter-protests-portland-protesters-burn-us-flags-police-arrive/videoshow/77310753.cms
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