2012
Flags at Half-Staff as the MLB Mourns Libya Victims
The President’s proclamation inspires the MLB to fly flags at half-staff. On Friday, September 15, MLB commissioner Bud Selig asked all major league clubs to fly their flags at half-staff until sunset on Sunday in order to support the government response as the nation mourns the slaying of four Americans last week in Libya. Ambassador Christopher Stevens, former Navy SEALs Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods, and Air Force veteran Sean Smith were killed in an attack on a diplomatic mission in Benghazi on the eleventh anniversary of the September 11th attacks. Their bodies were returned to American soil on Friday. President Obama also issued a proclamation ordering the flag at the White House and all public buildings to fly their flags at half-staff. Private businesses are not bound by the order; however, Selig took his own action Friday to illustrate baseball’s support of the President’s request. The Minnesota Twins kicked off a home-stand weekend series with the White Sox at Target Field where three flagpoles in right field—bearing the flags of Hennepin County, the U.S. and prisoners of war and Twins Territory—all lowered their flags to half-staff to join as the MLB mourns Libya victims. In addition to the flags, … 
