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Saturday night (October 3, 2020) a group of people assembled outside Walter Reed Hospital. They seemed to waving Trump Campaign flags and the national flag of East Turkestan. Why?

Martin Schröder
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BobE
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1 Answers1

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If you're referring to this (light blue flag on the left):

Image of Trump supporters outside Walter Reed

Then yes, that is the East Turkistan flag, and is likely being flown by people trying to draw attention to the oppression of Uighurs by the Chinese government. It isn't uncommon to see people sneak side-demonstrations in at places they know public figures and the media will be, and the East Turkistan flag is obscure enough (to American eyes) that it might be mistaken for some off-beat pro-Trump messaging.

Though it is a bit surprising no one did a double-take at the obviously Islamic symbology...

I saw this flag in two images of the supportive demonstration; in one it was incongruously at the very center of the mass of flags. But I'd be curious to know how long they were able to stay there until someone worked through the 'which of these things is not like the others' game and asked them to leave. No one in the news media (that I could find) seems to have caught onto it, so no one has followed up.

EDIT: Per comments, the East Turkistan National Awakening Movement has taken credit for the flags, wishing Trump a speedy recovery and asking him to take stronger action against China for their treatment of the Uighurs.

Ted Wrigley
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  • Not the same image (the one I saw was at night and actually more Islamic flags than Trump flags), but yes, same optic. – BobE Oct 06 '20 at 12:39
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    The "FREE TIBET" signs and shirts that have been at rallies for decades come to mind. – corsiKa Oct 06 '20 at 15:50
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    As someone who was done this at protests before, my experience is that you can easily go hours if you don't make a big deal of it. Many "fellow" protestors won't even look at your signage and if you act like you belong, people will assume you are friends. – indigochild Oct 06 '20 at 21:32
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    You might want to stress that generally speaking, people to "hijack" a protest like that might not be Trump supporters at all. It takes a well-organised protest to ask unwanted guests to leave (see German Fridays for Future telling far-right nationalist "Blut und Boden / protect German forests from immigrants" people that they're not welcome). – gerrit Oct 07 '20 at 07:25
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    Why would they ask them to leave? Taking a tougher stance against China - including but not limited to on the basis of their human rights violations - has been part of the Trump administration's policy since the beginning. Granted, the average Trump supporter probably knows little-to-nothing about the Uighurs. – reirab Oct 07 '20 at 15:25
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    @reirab That takes a lot of thinking and research on the scene to organize what groups might be aligned with your views and which do not. It is far simpler and easier to separate out the messages that are not identical to your own. There's also the possibility that the hijack protesters lie to you about their flag and what it symbolizes. The polite move is to allow them to protest away from the main group, and to remove them if they keep trying to integrate. See various instances of hate groups tagging on to rallies and drawing widespread external criticism with their presence. – Shorlan Oct 07 '20 at 21:18
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    @Shorlan Something like the research that any of us can do with a smartphone? It's not very difficult to find out what a group stands for. Also, I don't really care if Trump rallies are associated with anti-Trump or non-Trump messages. At best it can make them less effective. – Obie 2.0 Oct 08 '20 at 01:29
  • @Obie2.0 I was mostly speaking in general terms. Specifically for an unorganized collection of people hyped up on chants and sign waving, a simplified approach would work best for a simple minded activity. What does your partisan opinion have to do with the efficacy of my suggested approach? – Shorlan Oct 08 '20 at 15:31
  • @reirab: I think you are overestimating the thoughtfulness of groups of people (not just Trump supporters; any rallying group). The general level of thought in this context isn't going to rise above a kind of petulant: "why are those dmned flags flying at our* rally?" Even the smartest people aren't likely to investigate; they are more likely to confront and argue, assuming they choose to do anything at all. If they decide to be confrontational they might learn something of what you said, but most likely they'll just bully the offenders away. – Ted Wrigley Oct 08 '20 at 16:05