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Federal Judge Says Anti-Trump Group’s “86-47” Flag Is Protected Political Speech

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01.07.2026

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A federal judge has placed a temporary restraining order (TRO) on the National Park Service (NPS), restricting the agency from barring an organization opposed to President Donald Trump from displaying an “86-47” flag and other signage during their protests.

Accountability NOW USA, a group that advocates for Trump to be impeached and removed from the White House, has been protesting the president for 24 hours per day, seven days per week, since December. Earlier this year, they started using a flag that had the numbers “86-47” on it.

“86” is commonly understood to mean “get rid of” or “throw out,” especially in the restaurant world. Some interpret the number to mean “kill,” though the organization has said that they are not using the number in that manner. “47” refers to Trump, as he is the 47th president of the United States.

In addition to the flag, Accountability NOW demonstrators have held up signs alleging that Trump is a sexual abuser of children, citing unverified documents released from the Epstein files.

NPS and the Secret Service demanded the signs come down in April, calling them “unprotected obscenity,” and threatening to “impose and enforce permit conditions” to bar Accountability NOW from protesting at the George Meade statue in Washington, D.C., which is on NPS-managed land.

Trump Brags That He “Took the Freedom of Speech Away” From Protesters

The organization filed a request for a TRO on those demands shortly after, while their lawsuit demanding their signage not be restricted continues.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss granted the TRO request, stating that NPS could not restrict the group’s signage and flag use, as it would restrict their free speech rights protected under the First Amendment of........

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