Father Michael Pfleger Displays American Flag Upside-Down Outside Saint Sabina Church in Gresham, Chicago

CHICAGO (WLS) — Father Michael Pfleger and his community at the South Side Saint Sabina Church decided to raise the American flag upside-down on Monday as a symbol of distress they see in the country.

Pfleger, together with church members and other clergy, gathered at the flagpole outside the Gresham building to express their concerns about the current administration under President Donald Trump.

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“By laying off thousands of federal workers, vilifying thousands of Haitians, Africans, Venezuelans, and Mexican immigrants as criminals, and treating them inhumanely by deporting them, all while pardoning actual criminals,” Pfleger voiced out his disapproval.

Pfleger announced the church would fly the American flag upside-down: traditionally a sign of distress.

Organizers said the upside-down flag is a symbol that America is in a state of emergency, and that they will fight to preserve freedom.

“When America was great for this administration, it was great when Black people were serving the white nationalist agenda,” said Ciera Bates-Chamberlain, with Live Free Illinois.

Over the years, the upside-down flag has been used as a symbol of protest by both the political left and right.

Just this past weekend, it was flown over Yosemite National Park in protest of job cuts at the National Park Service.

And rioters at the siege on the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6, 2021, were seen carrying the same flag.

But, a small group of veterans outside St. Sabina said the flag should never be flown upside-down.

“He’s a pastor. He’s supposed to teach love, not divide the country,” Navy veteran Esteban Burgoa said.

Several military veterans were in support of the protest, like Rochelle Crump, who was in the Women’s Army Corps during Vietnam.

“For many years, we have held it as a sacred piece, to what it meant to America. But today, we are here because America is under distress,” Crump said.

The flag will stay up until Pfleger says the country is no longer under siege.