MASS SHOOTING/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Trump on Tuesday [7-3-18] ordered the American flag to be lowered to half-staff to honor the victims of last week’s mass shooting at the Capital Gazette newsroom in Annapolis, Md. The city’s mayor, Gavin Buckley, said his initial request, submitted last week through Maryland’s congressional delegation, was denied. But he received a call from the White House press secretary around 7:15 a.m. on Tuesday informing him that the president had decided to lower the flags for the five people killed on Thursday[6-28-18]…The White House released an official proclamation signed by Mr. Trump later on Tuesday morning that ordered American flags to be lowered until sunset at all public buildings and military posts…Mr. Buckley submitted the flag request on Friday [6-29-18] through Maryland representatives in Congress and then received word on Monday [6-2-18], shortly before the first funeral, that it had been denied. He told a reporter at the Capital newspaper that he was upset about the rejection and did not understand why the flags would not be lowered like they had been after other mass shootings.”
-Matthew Haag, “Trump Orders Flags to Half-Staff for Capital Gazette Victims, in Apparent Reversal,” The New York Times online, July 3, 2018