A Confederate flag flying through the sky in Jacksonville, Florida, has sparked outrage from the city’s mayor this week.
Bonnie Upright captured the moment the flag was flown over the TIAA Bank Field football stadium in Jacksonville at 10:17 a.m. on Sunday.
Upright told Newsweek: “It circled the stadium area for probably 15 minutes or so.”
The plane carried the flag and a banner that read “Put Monuments Back,” just before the start of a game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Baltimore Ravens at the stadium.
The footage of the flying flag sparked outrage, particularly from city Mayor Lenny Curry, who tweeted: “As I’ve said before, there is no place for hate of any kind in our City. My position on monuments remains clear, I have allocated money for removal and empowered the city council to take action.”
Newsweek has reached out to Mayor Curry for comment.
In 2020, the mayor announced that all Confederate monuments in Jacksonville would be removed after years of calls for that to happen.
The calls were amplified by Black Lives Matter protests following the death of George Floyd and monuments were removed throughout the city. Curry told Newsweek in 2020: “If our history prevents us from reaching the full potential of our future, then we need to take action.”
“Jacksonville removed a statue in 2020,” recalled Upright. “However there are others that haven’t been removed and that’s been up for debate for a while within city government and local organizations.”
It was not the first time that the TIAA Bank Field stadium has become a space for people to air their views. Last month, an antisemitic message was projected onto the stadium following a game.
Antisemitic Message
After the game between the Florida Gators and Georgia Bulldogs, the projected message read: “Kanye is right about the Jews.”
This came just days after West, who now goes by the name Ye, made a series of antisemitic remarks, including stating that he was “going death con 3 on Jewish people.”
The group Save Southern Heritage took responsibility for the flag flying over the stadium prior to kickoff.
A statement on its website read: “Mayor Lenny Curry, in the middle of the night on June 9, 2020, desecrated the historic Hemming Plaza Cenotaph by removing the elements of the memorial in knee jerk cancel culture reaction to the George Floyd death.”
Calling for the reinstatement of Confederate monuments, the group said that the flyover stunt was “part of a broad campaign that includes litigation and advocacy.”
On Twitter, people were upset to see the flag flown through the sky and shared their reactions in a series of replies to Upright’s post.
“Man that’s some sad stuff,” said one commenter, while another Twitter user wrote: “Some of us are trying to take steps in a positive direction, then there’s this guy.”
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