Trump orders US flags lowered to honour five slain at newspaper office
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump has ordered US flags on federal property be flown at half-staff through sunset on Tuesday to honour five people slain at a newspaper in Maryland’s capital.
The order comes after Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley said that Trump had declined his request to lower the flags.
Trump issued a proclamation on Tuesday ordering the flags to half-staff through sundown.
Four Capital Gazette journalists and a staffer were killed on Thursday when a gunman holding a grudge against the publication shot them in the newsroom.
Trump has repeatedly called journalists the “enemy of the people.”
He said the day after the shooting journalists shouldn’t fear being violently attacked while doing their job.
The White House says Trump ordered the flags lowered as soon as he learned of the Annapolis mayor’s request.
Published in Dawn, July 4th, 2018