Morgan Akin, 84, has taken down his American flag – and taken to the streets in his conservative California community

Earlier this year, Morgan Akin took down the American flag that had flown for decades outside his home in deep-red far northern California. It was a small gesture, one that did not echo through the halls of the US Capitol or make headlines.

But for the 84-year-old Vietnam-era veteran and retired game warden, it represented a monumental shift, one his family immediately took note of. It was Akin’s way of taking a stand in response to a country that had become increasingly unrecognizable to him. In the weeks before, masked officers arrested an international student who had co-authored a campus newspaper op-ed about Gaza in the street, the defense department temporarily removed Jackie Robinson’s biography from its website, and the president planned to host a massive military parade to celebrate his birthday.