President Donald Trump's order comes after the Democratic mayor of Annapolis, Gavin Buckley, told the Capital Gazette that the White House denied his request Monday to lower the flags. | Mark Wilson/Getty Images Trump orders flags to be flown at half-staff to honor Capital Gazette shooting victims

President Donald Trump on Tuesday ordered that flags be flown at half-staff to honor the five victims of the Capital Gazette newspaper shooting in Annapolis last week.

“Our Nation shares the sorrow of those affected by the shooting at the Capital Gazette newspaper in Annapolis, Maryland,” the president wrote, according to a White House statement. “Americans across the country are united in calling upon God to be with the victims and to bring aid and comfort to their families and friends.”


The flags will fly at half-staff at the White House, federal buildings, military posts and elsewhere until sunset Tuesday.

The president’s order comes after Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley, a Democrat, told the Capital Gazette that the White House denied his request Monday to lower the flags.

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“Obviously, I’m disappointed, you know? … Is there a cutoff for tragedy?” Buckley told the newspaper. “This was an attack on the press.”

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters Tuesday outside the White House that once the president learned of the mayor's "specific" request, "he fulfilled the mayor’s request and ordered that the flags be lowered."

Killed in the attack were Gerald Fischman, Rob Hiaasen, John McNamara, Rebecca Smith and Wendi Winters.

