Fourteen flags set on fire in Long Beach hours after National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day

Long Beach, California – As many of you know or may have noticed, flags were lowered to half-staff on Wednesday. The reason for that is that December 7 is an important day in U.S. history when we commemorate National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day and President Biden signs a proclamation ordering flags to be flown at half-staff.

But an incident occurred just hours after midnight the following day, on December 8, as several homeowners in Long Beach reported the American flags that were displayed on their properties were set on fire.

Crews from the Long Beach Fire Department were sent to the 2800 block of Iroquois Avenue after receiving a report regarding a vehicle fire at around 3:30 a.m. According to the LBFD, the vehicle burst into flames after a flag that was set on fire fell on the vehicle’s top. Shortly after this incident, the fire department started receiving multiple calls regarding flags on fire in the same neighborhood.

The suspect was captured setting a flag on fire at a home on a Ring doorbell camera. The footage was handed out to the department in order to help with the investigation. Authorities were able to identify the suspect on the footage and took him into custody on Thursday afternoon.

The investigation showed that a total of fourteen flags were set on fire by the man, although information on whether only American flags were targeted was not released. Information about his identity was not made public.

An investigation into the incident is ongoing, and authorities are asking anyone who was a victim of a similar crime to contact the arson hotline at 562-570-2582 or the LBPD.