The internet went nuts yesterday when pictures from CPAC showed attendees waving Russian flags with “TRUMP” on them in huge letters.
Now, the activists behind those flags have come forward with why they did it.
‘Proudly Waving Their Russian Trump Flag’
The young men behind the flags are Jason Charter and Ryan Clayton, members of the activist group Americans Take Action. They purchased tickets to CPAC with the intent of handing out the red, white, and blue flags. Charter told TalkingPointsMemo that:
“… Almost no one at CPAC seemed to realize the flag he handed them bore the horizontal red, white, and blue stripes of the Russian Federation underneath Trump’s name … ‘I asked people if they wanted a Trump flag and they took it,’ Charter said. ‘Many Trump supporters were proudly waving their Russian Trump flag.'”
Crowd at CPAC waving these little pro-Trump flags that look exactly like the Russian flag. Staffers quickly come around to confiscate them. pic.twitter.com/YhPpkwFCNc
— Peter Hamby (@PeterHamby) February 24, 2017
Charter and Clayton thought that the CPAC attendees would likely be ignorant as to the real meaning behind the flags.
They were correct.
Charter says he was trying make a point about Trump supporters in general (or at least about the hardcore ones attending CPAC:
“I don’t want to insult anyone, but I think you should know what the Russian flag is. They are one of the world’s major powers, and it’s a pretty easily recognized flag.”
The flags didn’t last long — once people started waving them, organizers quickly confiscated them, according to most reports. Charter and Clayton were escorted out of the building when Charter took his protest a step further and shouted “Fascist!” at Trump during the president’s speech. The tweet below shows Clayton being escorted out one hour after the tweet above was posted.
Security ejects protestor pretending to be Russian Trump fan. #CPAC2017 delegates saying "get him out of here" pic.twitter.com/yFOrTJU6Ca
— David Rennie (@DSORennie) February 24, 2017
They’ve Done This Before (And No, They’re Not Paid)
Charter, who is just 22 years old, also organized protests on Inauguration Day. TalkingPointsMemo reports that his protests on that day:
” … Involved shouting passages from the Constitution during Trump’s first speech as commander in chief [in the hopes that] the action pushes Republicans to pay more attention to lingering questions about Trump and former national security adviser Mike Flynn’s conversations with the Russian government.”
Charter and Clayton are just two of the millions of people who are taking a stand against Trump and his regime.
The group they’re with describes itself as:
“… A network of populists who believe that the American government should represent we the people once again, that the economy should work for all of us, and that the internet should remain free and open for generations to come.”
Bravo, Jason and Ryan. Bravo, Americans Take Action. And bravo to all who #resist.
Featured image via TalkingPointsMemo
