Trump lowers flags to honor Capital Gazette shooting victims after rejecting initial request

Flag at half-staff for Capital Gazette shooting victims.
(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

In a sudden reversal, President Trump on Tuesday ordered flags to be flown at half-staff in honor of the five Capital Gazette newspaper employees who were shot and killed last week.

Trump had initially declined a request from Annapolis, Maryland, mayor Gavin Buckley, who asked the president to acknowledge the victims with lowered flags, as the White House did after previous mass shootings. The rejection drew criticism, with some calling Trump "petty" and drawing parallels between the refusal and the president's prior criticism of the news media industry.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Summer Meza, The Week US

Summer Meza has worked at The Week since 2018, serving as a staff writer, a news writer and currently the deputy editor. As a proud news generalist, she edits everything from political punditry and science news to personal finance advice and film reviews. Summer has previously written for Newsweek and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, covering national politics, transportation and the cannabis industry.