Chicago City Wire

A communist Chicago journalist charged 41st Ward Alderman Anthony Napolitano with violating federal code by wearing an American flag-themed tie to a press conference protesting a flag burning.

Jim Daley, who writes for South Side Weekly, made the accusation on X on March 27.

"Ald. Napolitano wore a U.S. flag tie, in violation of the United States Flag Code, to a presser where alders are condemning his colleague for speaking at a protest where a flag was burned," wrote Daley, who linked to Chapter 1 of Title 4 of the U.S. Code, which outlines rules for display and care of the American flag. 

"The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery. It should never be festooned, drawn back, nor up, in folds, but always allowed to fall free," the Code says.

The American Legion says this section of the U.S. Flag Code does not apply to flag-themed clothing, but rather to actual pieces of an American Flag that one would wear.

"Unless an article of clothing is made from an actual United States flag, there is NO breach of flag etiquette whatsoever. People are simply expressing their patriotism and love of country by wearing an article of clothing that happens to be red, white, and blue with stars and stripes. There is nothing illegal about the wearing or use of these items," it said.

Daley, a 2008 graduate of University of Illinois at Chicago, wrote for Al Jazeera and the communist newspaper "In These Times" before joining South Side Weekly in 2019.

He has also written for the Chicago Reader and "The Triibe," which is a "digital media platform that is reshaping the narrative of Black Chicago and giving ownership back to the people."

Ald. Napolitano was attending a press conference to criticize fellow Ald. Bryon Sigcho-Lopez (D-25), who was photographed watching a flag burn at a pro Hamas protest, in which he called on the city of Chicago to cancel the Democratic National Convention.

Napolitano represents Chicago's 41st ward. He was first elected to the city council in 2015, and was reelected in both 2019 and 2023. Before serving on the council, Napolitano worked as a Chicago police officer from 2000 to 2005, and later as a firefighter in Chicago. He and his wife and three kids live in the 41st ward.