Man sets fire to American flag outside Philadelphia house in shocking viral video
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA: Footage from surveillance cameras showed someone setting fire to an American flag hanging in front of a house in Philadelphia. The incident reportedly happened last week and a person named Robert Stewart Jr said that his parents’ house and part of his brother’s house also suffered due to the fire.
Taking to Facebook, Stewart Jr wrote, “Some absolute drain on society that apparently hates the United States decided to light the flag out front of my parents house on fire causing the whole front of their house to catch fire and part of my brothers house next door with my 2 young nieces inside. If my mom hadn't just gone upstairs and not heard the noise her and my father may have been trapped on the second floor. The front of the house is trashed.”
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According to reports, people crossing the street saw the fire and banged on the door to inform the family about it. The Philadelphia Fire Department reached the scene on time and extinguished the fire. Nobody was injured. “Thankfully the Philadelphia Fire Department showed up promptly to extinguish the fire. If anyone knows this waste of breathable air please contact me. And thank you to the employee's of Nick's Roast Beef, Cottman Ave. Who stopped and banged on my parents door to alert them of the fire,” Stewart Jr added. The video shared by the man on the social media platform showed an unidentified person setting the flag on fire at 2.45am on Saturday, July 17. The flag had been there for over two decades.
“I come running down, and when I got halfway down the steps, I could see the flames in the window. The bay window was just engulfed in flames,” Robert Stewart told 7NEWS. Speaking of the footage, he said, “(He) stops, lights the flag. He starts walking. It must not have been burning fast enough for him, so he came back and lit it some more. Then, he walked away.” He added: “All my wife’s brothers were militaries, so it’s important to her. Twenty-five, thirty years, we’ve been flying flags. We have one out back, too. As soon as they got done boarding it up to secure the house, I had another one in there, so I just put it up figuring they’re not going to deter me from flying the flag.”
His daughter-in-law, Carrie Fisher, said: “I don’t know why you would do that. You don’t like it, that’s fine… But there are people in their houses. I have two small children. My grandmother’s 90. My in-laws are in their 60s. God forbid if something happened.” Investigation into the case is ongoing as police said they have leads regarding the suspect. Some people have reportedly identified him.
Meanwhile, people on social media reacted to the incident as a user wrote in the comment section of the Facebook post, “OMG, thank God all of you, our lifetime friends and extended family, are safe. It’s hatred in this world and being so divided that unfortunately this person’s decision what is the wrong decision.” The second one said, “Hope they find him and arrest him. Glad your family are ok. Sorry they are experimenting such an evil act.” Another said, “I am glad you all were ok… this POS is local no other reason to be walking on your street at 215 in the morning … Hopefully the police find him, and the idiot DA throws the book at him!”