Aurora, Illinois Mayor John Laesch ordered city flags raised to full staff Friday, despite proclamations from President Donald Trump and Gov. JB Pritzker directing they remain lowered in honor of Charlie Kirk.
Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, was assassinated Wednesday during a campus event at Utah Valley University.
Competing Orders
President Trump directed flags nationwide to be flown at half-staff until Sept. 14 in Kirk’s memory.
John Laesch
Gov. Pritzker followed with a proclamation for Illinois flags, framing it as honoring “victims of political violence.”
Neither order was followed in Aurora.
A memo from Aurora Fire Chief David McCabe instructed staff to raise all flags.
“I know everyone has their own opinion, but that is irrelevant,” McCabe wrote.
He warned that lowering the flags again would be treated as “a violation of a direct order.”