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WASHINGTON — President Obama has issued a proclamation for flags at the White House to be flown at half staff.

The flags are being lowered in memory of the four U.S. Marines and one Navy sailor shot to death in Chattanooga last week.

There has been a lot of outcry about the flags not being lowered before today.

Many governors ordered flags in their states lowered immediately after the attack.

The flags at the U.S. Capitol were lowered Tuesday morning on orders of the Republican leadership, just a few hours before President Obama also ordered the White House flags to be lowered.

President Obama previously ordered flags to be flown at half staff after shootings at Fort Hood, the Washington Navy Yard, and Sandy Hook Elementary School.

The orders are largely ceremonial and affect only government buildings.  Private citizens may fly their flags however they wish.

Mohammod Youssef Abdulazeez, 24, shot and killed the men in two separate attacks on military recruiting sites last week in Chattanooga, according to law enforcement reports.