OCALA, Fla. (KRON/AP) – As lawmakers in South Carolina consider removing the Confederate flag from the Statehouse grounds, a county in north Florida has decided to do the opposite.
On Tuesday, the Marion County Commission voted unanimously to again fly the Confederate flag in front of a government building, weeks after it had been taken down.
The interim county administrator had removed the flag at the McPherson Governmental Complex in Ocala, joining other communities across the South and nationwide that took down or reconsidered Confederate symbols following the killing of nine black people at a Charleston, South Carolina church on June 17. The 21-year-old murder suspect, Dylan Roof, has appeared in photos waving Confederate flags.
The Ocala Star-Banner reports that several citizens spoke in favor of restoring the flag in Ocala.
Commissioners say it will be flown with a display explaining its historical significance.