Flag Flap
Claim: President Obama did not mention the death of Chris Kyle but ordered flags flown at half-staff for Whitney Houston.
....
Pop singer Whitney Houston passed away on 11 February 2012 from an accidental drowning in a bathtub, an event which the Los Angeles County coroner's office reported was due to the "effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use." Houston, a New Jersey native, was also buried in that state, and New Jersey governor Chris Christie made a somewhat controversial decision in directing all New Jersey state flags to be flown at half-staff in her honor — critics contended that such a gesture should be reserved for members of the military, first responders, and state officials, and also that "it was wrong to honor a drug addict." Governor Christie defended his decision, saying: "I am disturbed by people who believe that because of her history of substance abuse that somehow she's forfeited the good things that she did in her life." (The previous year, Governor Christie had also directed flags to be flown at half-staff to mark the passing of Clarence Clemons, the saxophonist for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, with little public outcry.)
Although the White House issued a statement through press secretary Jay Carney after Whitney Houston's death noting that President Obama's "thoughts and prayers are with Whitney Houston's family, especially her daughter," as far as we know President Obama has made no public expression of condolence or mourning to mark the passing of Chris Kyle. It is not true that President Obama ordered flags throughout the country flown at half-staff to honor Whitney Houston; as noted above, that action was undertaken only at a state level by the governor of New Jersey.
Last updated: 19 July 2015
Flags at Half-Staff After Chattanooga Shooting
David Mikkelson
2015-07-19
NEWS: Some Americans were puzzled or dismayed by the White House’s not lowering the U.S. flag to half-staff after the Chattanooga shootings.
On 16 July 2015, a gunman opened fire at a military recruiting center and the Navy Operational Support Center in Chattanooga, Tennessee, killing four U.S. Marines who died that day and a U.S. Navy petty officer who expired from his wounds a few days later.
In the wake of the Chattanooga tragedy, the governors of several states directed their state flags to be flown at half-staff to honor the victims of those shootings, such as Tennessee (where the attack occurred), Massachusetts (where one of the killed Marines hailed from), and Arkansas (where another of the killed Marines hailed from).
A number of commenters noted with puzzlement or dismay that President Obama did not direct that the U.S. flag similarly be lowered to half-staff at the White House and other public buildings in memorial of the slain U.S. servicemen:
{snip}
A meme from previous years that was widely recirculated after the Chattanooga shootings falsely claimed that President Obama had ordered flags to be flown at half-staff following the 2012 death of singer
Whitney Houston. That actions was actually a decision made at the state level by New Jersey governor Chris Christie.
FOX Sports
JUL 21, 2015 3:28a ET
As more details emerge from last week’s shooting rampage in Chattanooga, Tenn., in which a gunman shot and killed five U.S. servicemen before being killed by police, one aspect that has many people outraged pertains to the American flag.
More specifically, a growing number of people question President Barrack Obama’s lack of presidential order to lower the flag to half-staff around the country, an order given in the wake of recent tragedies such as the Fort Hood shooting in 2009, the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in 2012 and the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013.
While it is true that Obama has made no such proclamation to date for the Chattanooga shootings, one rumor that has been circulating through social media that is not true is that Obama ordered flags flown at half-staff following the death of singer Whitney Houston in 2012. That rumor was discredited, with outlets
such as CNN and
Snopes.com confirming Monday that
New Jersey governor Chris Christie ordered his state’s flags flown at half-staff after Houston’s death but Obama never did.
Nonetheless, on Monday former star pitcher Curt Schilling tweeted his disbelief that Obama would give the honor to Houston but not the Chattanooga victims.
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