And that's all it comes down to: the way the cop feels. It is your feelings about the flag that you are acting on, not some real harm being caused. Could this not be likened to a person crushing a gay person's skull because he "feels" some special hatred toward gay people? What about a person crushing another person's skull because he feels some special hatred toward Democrats or Republicans?

I understand that when various colors of cloth are sewed together in a specific pattern, you associate some meaning with that result. But that meaning and the sanctity you associate it is an opinion, and it's an opinion that shouldn't be forced on someone else.

So in response to your question, yes, I hope the cop does feel that people shouldn't be injured because of their beliefs or actions, so long as those beliefs and actions aren't harming someone else.

A right is something that you are able to do. A right may or may not be protected in our Constitution. I imagine you do not mean to say that flag burning isn't a right, but instead that it isn't protected in the Constitution. In that sense, I would imagine it to be a difficult case to make that flag burning is protected in the Constitution, so you may be correct about that. However, that does not change the fact that denying people the right to burn flags is a denial of their freedom and their property, and it isn't justified.