Federal Judge Bars National Park Service from Removing “8647” Flag from Demonstration

Temporary Restraining Order that protects First Amendment right to display flag depicting the message central to latest Comey indictment will last 14 days.

June 1, 2026 12:30 pm

Media Contact

[email protected]

WASHINGTON – A federal judge today issued a Temporary Restraining Order, prohibiting the National Park Service (NPS) from taking any action against Accountability Now USA for displaying an “8647” flag as part of the group’s permitted public demonstration on Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C. The demonstrators are represented by the ACLU of the District of Columbia (ACLU-D.C.).

In his order, U.S. District Judge Randolph D. Moss wrote, “The government seeks to squelch core political speech without any articulable—much less evidentiary—basis for concluding that the speech actually threatens the life or safety of the President.”

On April 28, former FBI Director James Comey was indicted for posting a picture depicting “8647” spelled out in seashells on his Instagram account, which federal officials claim is a threat of violence against the President. The term “86” is thought to come from the restaurant industry, where it is often used to mean “get rid of” or “remove.” Demonstrators displayed the flag as part of their ongoing demonstration urging the impeachment and removal of President Trump from office.

At 5:00 am ET on May 27, federal officers demanded that Accountability Now USA remove an “8647” flag, even though the flag had been there for more than two weeks. They threatened to revoke the demonstrators’ permit if they did not comply. This threat came just 14 hours after ACLU-D.C. filed a motion for a preliminary injunction in their First Amendment lawsuit against NPS.

Accountability Now USA sued federal officials on April 23, 2026, alleging that NPS violated their rights when it threatened to take action against the demonstrators over two small signs. One sign read: “TRUMP RAPED LITTLE GIRLS.” The other read: “KIDS, IF YOUR PARENTS ARE MAGA, THEY LOVE CHILD RAPISTS.” These signs, displayed after news reports about sexual misconduct allegations concerning Donald Trump contained in the Epstein files, led to numerous conversations between volunteers and passersby regarding President Trump’s behavior, morality, and fitness to continue in office.

“We are pleased that the court saw through the government’s baseless accusations about our 8647 flag,” said Anita Carey, organizer with Accountability NOW USA. “We want to lawfully, peacefully, and constitutionally impeach and remove the President from office. We will now resume proudly flying our 8647 flag, and we encourage everyone who agrees with us to do the same.”

“Today, the court recognized that the real threat is a federal government that seeks to punish criticism and trample on our freedoms,” said Laura Follansbee, staff attorney at ACLU-D.C. “Today’s order is a win for everyone’s First Amendment rights. No one should face government retaliation for expressing their political views.”

Documents

Jun 01, 2026

Related Content

Court Case
May 27, 2026
Placeholder image
  • Freedom of Speech and Association

Accountability NOW USA v. Griess, et al. – Defending the Right to Display Signs Accusing President Trump of Sex Crimes

Accountability NOW is a group of volunteers who have been holding a permitted, 24/7 anti-Trump vigil on National Park Service (NPS) land in Washington, D.C., for months. After they erected signs saying "Trump raped little girls,” and “Kids, if your parents are MAGA, they love child rapists,” NPS demanded they remove the signs because they are “obscene,” and therefore, not protected by the First Amendment. But the signs are not obscene. Legal obscenity is an extremely narrow exception to the First Amendment’s protection and does not apply to signs like these. For example, the media has extensively covered Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes on TV and online, but those reports do not satisfy the legal test for obscenity, which is designed to capture things like hardcore pornography that have no artistic or other value. This case shows why the test is so strict: If politicians could stop you from accusing them of sexual misconduct by saying that the accusation is obscene, they could avoid accountability. That’s what the First Amendment prevents. We are asking the court to prohibit NPS from revoking its demonstration permit on this trumped-up ground. We hope that this lawsuit will remind government officials to take Americans’ First Amendment rights seriously. After seeking unsuccessfully to persuade the government that it should reverse its position, we filed a motion for a preliminary injunction on May 26. At 5 a.m. the next morning, Park Police officers came to our client’s demonstration and informed them that a flag they were flying, which said “8647,” was a threat to the President and must be removed or they would be violating their permit. That afternoon we filed an application for a temporary restraining order, asking the court to prohibit the government from taking action against the demonstration if it resumed displaying that flag.