Flags Flying at Half-Staff in Florida to Honor Slain Troops

While some question the White House’s decision to not issue an order for American flags to fly at half-staff in honor of five servicemen killed in Tennessee last week, Florida Gov. Rick Scott has taken action to remedy the situation in the Sunshine State.

Scott issued an executive order Monday that calls for all United States and State of Florida flags to fly at half-staff “in honor of the five service members who were murdered at recruiting centers in Chattanooga, Tennessee last week,” a media release on the order stated. “This is effectively immediately throughout the state of Florida until sunset on the day of the final military member’s date of interment.”

Scott’s order comes as the White House has offered no explanation for its failure to issue a similar order, Stars and Stripes reported. The publication points out President Barack Obama has issued proclamations calling for flags to fly at half-staff following other mass shootings, including attacks at the Washington Navy Yard and at Fort Hood in Texas. Indeed, the White House’s website still references those orders. The order to honor those killed at Fort Hood was issued on Nov. 6, 2009, while the order in regard to the Navy Yard shootings was reported on the White House website Sept. 16, 2013.

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• Gov. Scott Orders Tighter Security for Florida Guardsmen

While orders have not come from the White House, the president has offered his condolences to the families.

“I don’t have more information about the status of the flag over the White House,” the publication quoted White House spokesman John Earnest as saying Monday.

Scott’s order recognizes all five men killed and further states the proclamation was made to “recognize our brave Florida men and women in uniform (in) any and every way we can.” It goes on to say that Florida continues “to mourn the loss of American heroes in Tennessee.”

The order follows a Saturday action taken by Scott to shore up security for Florida National Guardsmen. That directive calls for all store-front recruiting activities to move inside secured armories, among other actions.

Four Marines and one Navy petty officer were slain in the two-site shooting spree in Chattanooga. The apparent shooter in that case, Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez, 24, was also killed. The incident has been described as an act of domestic terrorism.

Read Gov. Scott’s full executive order here.

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