I don’t think the crowd’s reaction was out of line. The statement the girl was making is “The United States sucks” loudly and clearly. I’m sure this offended many of the people in the crowd for several reasons. It isn’t illegal, however, to offend someone (not yet anyway), nor is it necessarily unethical, depending on the circumstances. Still, it is not unethical for the crowd to by hurt by someone putting something down something that is very close to its heart.

As far as flag worship goes, I’ve never considered the flag to be an object of devotion but a symbol people rally behind. It gives physical form to an idea, but that’s as far as it goes. It’s one thing to be offended by a person’s public statement; it’s another to restrict a person’s freedom over an object.