UPDATED: Democrat Rep. Kim faces social media backlash over Memorial Day ceremony photo

MT. HOLLY, N.J. – UPDATE 6/12/19The Burlington County Times has run an article since this post was originally published reporting that the picture below, which began circulating online around Memorial Day Weekend, was allegedly taken during a point in the ceremony at which wreaths were being laid beneath American flags as opposed to during the National Anthem. Our story has been updated accordingly to reflect this account. 

Freshman Democrat Andy Kim (D, NJ-03) stirred controversy on social media over the Memorial Day holiday weekend when a picture surfaced of the South Jersey Congressman appearing to decline to salute the flag at a district memorial service.

Critics said Kim’s apparent decision to keep his hands folded while everyone else saluted was disrespectful:

https://twitter.com/JamesJMarlowe2/status/1133044611520372736

https://twitter.com/charlieo7955/status/1133063922892857344

According to the U.S. Flag Code, the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag “should be rendered by standing at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart.” A similar expectation exists during taps which typically accompany wreath-laying ceremonies. 

A Burlington County Times reporter subsequently interviewed a spokesperson for the New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs who said, after reportedly talking to the photographer, Rep. Kim’s hands were folded not during the anthem or taps but during a wreath-laying portion of the ceremony and, therefore, he did not need to salute along with everyone else in the photograph to be respectful. The wreaths were reportedly being laid in front of flags at the time.

“We’ve done some research after this dust up and what we found is that there is no protocol for civilians as to what they should do during the presentation of a wreath,” Westhoven told the Burlco Times reporter. “People will salute or put their hands over their hearts at (a wreath laying at) the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, but they are saluting the tomb, not the wreath.”

Reasonable? Persuasive? Semantics? A difference without a distinction?

As ever, Save Jersey invites its readers to make up their own minds, this time as to whether Kim’s casual demeanor during a solemn ceremony (when almost everyone else in the photograph was saluting) was okay or unacceptable.

Kim’s district is home to a large active and retired duty military population; it also contains the Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. 

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