Overview
- U.S. District Judge Randolph D. Moss issued a June 29 summary‑judgment order finding Accountability NOW USA’s “8647” flag and signs alleging sexual misconduct by President Donald Trump are protected by the First Amendment.
- The order permanently bars the National Park Service from revoking the group’s permit or seizing its flags and signs based on the contested messages.
- Moss explained that in context the slang “86” more commonly means to remove or expel rather than to kill and rejected the government’s claim that the sexual‑misconduct signs were legally obscene.
- Court records show Secret Service and U.S. Park Police officers investigated and warned protesters about the flag, but Moss found no evidence of a subjective intent to threaten the president.
- Legal analysts say Moss’s fact‑driven framework could influence the Justice Department’s separate prosecution of James Comey over a similar “86 47” post but emphasized that other courts must decide those cases on their own facts.