Did NJ snub Charlie Kirk? Why towns ignored presidential order

✅ NJ skipped lowering flags for Charlie Kirk despite presidential order

⚖️ Local and state leaders say proclamations aren’t binding on them

🔥 Sparta mayor clashed with residents demanding flag tribute

SPARTA — New Jersey did not follow a presidential proclamation ordering flags at public buildings and grounds to be flown at half-staff in honor of conservative advocate Charlie Kirk.

In a White House proclamation issued Sept. 10, the order was in effect “as a mark of respect for the memory of Charlie Kirk" between Sept. 10 and Sept. 14.

It applied to all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the federal government in the United States and its territories.

For the past four days, the state website flag status page, maintained by the New Jersey Department of State, did not mention the Charlie Kirk proclamation.

Gov. Phil Murphy's office did not respond to New Jersey 101.5's request for comment on Monday morning.

Mayor says only governor can order NJ flags lowered

Democratic Mayor Neil Clark told TAP into Sparta that it takes a directive from the governor to lower the flag, not the federal government. He also said that an emergency meeting of the municipal governing would be needed but wasn't warranted because Kirk's death was not a "disaster or crisis."

The mayor showed up at a vigil on Saturday night outside the municipal building.  Zoning Board member Michael Sylvester wanted the mayor to lower the flag but Clark yelled at residents who confronted him.

"We had children die in a Catholic mass and not a damn single one of you did anything," Clark said before walking away with a police officer guiding him away from the crowd.

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Federal proclamations don’t bind states or towns

Micah Rasmussen, director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University, said that following a presidential proclamation about flying flags is at the discretion of local and state governments. It is not an order based on the Constitution.

"We have different levels of government. So a federal proclamation has to do with federal buildings, federal facilities, military bases, things like that," he said. "It does not automatically follow that state and local governments and buildings are going to do the same thing."

"We live in a decentralized system. And so mayors have to make proclamations about what happens at local buildings, and governors have to make decisions about what happens at state buildings."

Charlie Kirk’s polarizing legacy fuels division

While almost everyone agrees that the assassination of a father and husband is tragic, the views Kirk espoused are causing division.

"I don't think it's controversial to acknowledge Charlie Kirk's opposition to the Civil Rights Act, or saying that it's been all downhill since women got the right to vote," Rasmussen said. "These are not unifying views, and so you're not going to get one prevailing view on whether or not those are to be celebrated or not to be celebrated."

Funeral scheduled in Arizona, Trump expected

Kirk's funeral is scheduled for 11 a.m. Sunday, Sept 21 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. President Donald Trump will likely attend.

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