Repeater
Regular Member
Anyone know about this?
Christmas parade Confederate flag fallout continues - Many supporters of the Confederate flag apparently entered the parade improperly
Christmas parade Confederate flag fallout continues - Many supporters of the Confederate flag apparently entered the parade improperly
A week ago, Downtown Roanoke Inc. defended the First Amendment right of a Sons of Confederate Veterans chapter to march and carry the Confederate flag in the city Christmas parade despite complaints from the Roanoke NAACP.
Then as many as 50 Confederate flag bearers — some of them said to be armed — entered the parade and marched along behind the float of the Sons of Confederate Veterans 28th Infantry Camp 49.
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The flag supporters, including many in the crowd who cheered loudly when the banner passed, were turned out by two pro-Confederate flag groups in the region, plus a third constitutionalist group that posted a video “call to arms” encouraging supporters to openly carry guns.
“It did get hijacked,” said Mark Craig, commander of the Sons of Confederate Veterans group, “but not by us.”
They were joined by a post from Daniel Highberger, of Roanoke County, who recently founded a constitutional group called Sons of Liberty Southwest Virginia, which is a part of the national III Percenters movement. The movement takes its name from a belief that only 3 percent of colonists actually fought to win independence from England during the American Revolution. Followers believe government is creeping along a path to tyranny, and they are prepared to defend the liberty of all law-abiding Americans, Highberger said.
Bowles and Boone said they support the III Percenters movement, but not all its principles.
Highberger posted a video “call to arms” on Facebook, urging backers to come to the parade and cheer on the Sons of Confederate Veterans and openly carry firearms to exert their Second Amendment rights.
He uses his own handgun and holster to demonstrate proper open carrying.
“Protect your brothers if the need arises,” he said.