Mitch Perry
A Florida Southern Pride Ride in support of the Confederate flag was scheduled to take place at the Southeastern Livestock Pavilion in Ocala on Sunday afternoon – a day after Marion County Government officials restored the Third National Confederate flag and a french flag that were removed in two separate incidents in front of the McPherson Complex grounds.
On Saturday, approximately 20-30 protestors descended upon the government building in Ocala to protest the presence of the third national confederate flag. Although there was somewhat conflicting coverage about whether the confederate flag was pulled down or came down on its own, but the incident prompted officials with the Marion County facilities management department to remove the portion of the flag pole still containing the flag and stored it away.
But later on Saturday, officials with the Marion County government returned the flag to a display that also includes the flags of the U.S., Britain, France and Spain.
The third national confederate flag was temporarily removed from the historical display in front of the McPherson Complex grounds last month, following the domestic terrorist incident in a Charleston, South Carolina black church that killed nine people. Similar incidents have taken place across the country, none more dramatic than in South Carolina on Friday, where cable news networks broadcast live the scene of the flag coming down, after the South Carolina Legislature and Governor Nikki Haley authorized doing so.
But while Confederate flags have been going down across the nation since Charleston, Marion County made national news last week when it’s Board of County Commissioners voted to return it back to the display area in front of the government center. t The board voted that it will continue to be displayed until the county’s historical commission can advise the board on the most appropriate setting for the Confederate flag. The historical commission is due to report to the board by September.
At the demonstration on Saturday, protestors said they couldn’t figure out why the Marion County Commission had agreed to fly the Confederate flag once again.
“Throughout the world, (the flag) symbolizes the Confederacy. The number one reason the states wanted secession was to sustain slavery,” protestor Don Wright told the Ocala Star-Banner. “It’s understood as a symbol of slavery, racism, bigotry and treason.”
A note on the Marion County’s Facebook page on Sunday said that the County has teamed up with the Ocala Police Department to “enhance display surveillance at this time” to prevent any additional tampering of county property.
