CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS : PROPOSITION 187 : Anti-187 Protester Honored for Halting Burning of Flag

An anti-Proposition 187 demonstrator who was kicked and beaten when he prevented other demonstrators from burning an American flag was presented with a U.S. flag Friday by a San Diego congressman who supports Proposition 187.

David Phillips Jr., 25, a political science major at Palomar College, was part of an anti-Proposition 187 demonstration Wednesday outside San Marcos City Hall when he saw demonstrators spraying a flag with lighter fluid and trying to set it afire.

Phillips snatched the flag and ran but was overtaken and knocked to the ground, according to the San Diego Sheriff’s Department. Deputies rescued Phillips, who suffered bruises and a sore jaw, but they made no arrests.

U.S. Rep. Randy (Duke) Cunningham (R-San Diego) gave Phillips a flag on Friday in an informal meeting at Cunningham’s Escondido office. The flag had once flown over the U.S. Capitol.

Cunningham, a retired Navy fighter pilot and decorated Vietnam veteran, said he wanted to show his admiration for Phillips’ courage in risking injury to protect the flag. Phillips’ father served in Vietnam.

Phillips, who serves as a caretaker for a woman with AIDS, was not available for comment. However, the woman, Marcia Sanders, 42, of Oceanside, said Phillips believes that Proposition 187 violates the human rights of undocumented immigrants but that he could not stand to see the U.S. flag sullied.

“He did what he had to do,” she said.

A San Diego veterans’ organization has also announced it will present Phillips with its “American Hero” award.

Although Phillips prevented the crowd from burning that particular flag, another flag was burned earlier by the same crowd, which consisted of about 250 people, mostly from Palomar College and local high schools.