Did Boise defy Trump’s half-staff flag order after Kirk’s death? What city says
After conservative commentator Charlie Kirk was shot and killed Wednesday in Utah, President Donald Trump ordered flags lowered to half-staff until sunset on Sunday.
But at 2 p.m. Sunday, former Idaho Solicitor General Theo Wold posted a video on X of flags at full-staff at the Boise Depot. “City of Boise flying flags full mast at the Boise Depot, in defiance of the President’s order that flags be lowered after Charlie Kirk’s murder,” he wrote. Several hours later, Wold posted a photo of the flags at full-staff in front of Boise City Hall.
Boise spokesperson Maria Ortega told the Statesman that city flags were lowered right after Trump’s order on Wednesday, Sept. 10 and stayed down through Sept. 14. “Some may have been raised sooner than sunset, so we’re addressing that internally,” Ortega wrote in an email Monday.
Kirk visited Boise State in April as part of his “The American Comeback Tour,” where audience members can debate him live. On Sept. 10, he was at Utah Valley University on the same tour when a shooter assassinated him. Police said they have the suspect in custody.
Kirk’s death has prompted bipartisan condemnations of political violence.
In Idaho, at least four people have lost their jobs or other positions after remarks they made about his killing.
This story was originally published September 15, 2025 at 2:35 PM.
