Confederate flag to fly again at SC State House – but only for a day

The Confederate flag will fly again above the State House grounds – but just for one day.

Flag supporters will hold a rally at 10 a.m. Monday – the two-year anniversary of the banner’s removal from the Confederate soldiers memorial – where the flag will be raised on a temporary pole in the same spot. The event is organized by the S.C. Secessionist Party.

“July 10th, 2017 will mark two years since the initiation of the politically correct cultural genocide we have seen sweep across the Southland,” the group said on the Facebook event. “One thing the enemy didn't take into account was the deep and enduring sense of brotherhood and community we southerners have.”

Last year’s rally drew around 150 people, and organizers said they planned to make it an annual event.

The Confederate flag was removed from State House grounds on July 10, 2015, several weeks after an avowed white supremacist fatally shot nine black parishioners during a Bible study at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston. The gunman, Dylann Roof, posted numerous pictures of himself posing with the flag.

“Without realizing it, the enemies of the South created a new generation of Southern Heritage Defenders. From Virginia to Florida and from South Carolina to Oklahoma Southerners have rallied together in defense of what we hold sacred,” the post on the Facebook event reads. “Every year on the anniversary of the removal of the Battle Flag of our ancestors, we will gather at the South Carolina State House, hoist the flag back in its rightful place, and thumb our nose to those who would erase our history, heritage and culture.”

This story was originally published July 9, 2017 at 2:24 PM with the headline "Confederate flag to fly again at SC State House – but only for a day."