Saturday, May 12th began as most any other day on the Boulevard, where the Va Flaggers gathered to protest the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and their illegal actions in forcing the removal of Confederate Battle Flags from the portico of the Confederate War Memorial/Pelham Chapel, flying a U.S. Flag on a Confederate War Memorial, and encroachment on the R.E. Lee Camp Confederate Memorial Park.
h...ttp://leg1.state.va.us/
The weather was absolutely gorgeous, with temperatures in the high 70’s, lots of sunshine, and a beautiful breeze to lift the flags! We had the pleasure of welcoming first time flagger Everette Ellis to the Boulevard, who carried a flag that flew 50 years ago, during the Centennial of the WBTS.
At one point, late in the afternoon, Cecil “Tommy” Thomas walked over to stand on the corner we call “Camp Grayson”. For months, we stood at this corner, which was a great spot for allowing us to explain to museum visitors what the VMFA had done. Since the March 10 incident with the United Daughters of the Confederacy, we have lost the use of that corner, even though the UDC told us that it is not actually their property. If we stand there, museum guards usually come out and tell us to move. This time, the guards came out of the building, but did not approach Tommy. They simply stood by the museum entrance, communicating with their radios and taking photographs. Tommy stood at the corner with a flag, for about 15 minutes, and Flagger Fred Merridew stood nearby, with a camera.
Fred concluded that the museum had most likely called the police and he and Tommy returned to the sidewalk.
Sure enough, a few minutes later, the Richmond Police arrived. Tommy and TriPp left their flags on the sidewalk and walked towards the museum entrance to use the restroom facilities. The Richmond Police Officers and a VMFA security guard stopped them on the walkway. The link below is to a recording of the conversation. The angry, loud voice you hear at the beginning is that of VMFA museum guard, Robert Harrison. He is the "cause I said so" guard from the confrontation with Flagger Jimmy Jones and the guard who likes to call TriPp and Susan by name and make intimidating comments. The other two cordial voices are the Richmond Police officers. What they have to say about why the VMFA called them shocked even the most battle hardened Flaggers.
Listen here:
www.vaflaggers.com/
It seems that Mrs. Martha Van Scheck, President General of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, filed a Trespassing Enforcement Authorization Letter with the Richmond Police just days after the incident in which the UDC called the police on the Va Flaggers for standing on the edge of their curb to take a photo. As you can clearly hear in the audio, the Richmond Police informed the Va Flaggers that, according to the instructions they received from the UDC, “You are welcome…your person…but they don’t want the flags on there,…so just don’t take the flags on there.” They told us that the letter was filed specifically for the Flaggers, to prevent us from carrying Confederate flags on the grounds of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. They further stated that by the authority the UDC has granted, Flaggers will be arrested if they are caught carrying a Confederate flag on the UDC grounds. This is in direct contradiction to earlier claims by UDC officials that the issues with trespassing had nothing to do with the Va Flaggers, or our flags.
For those who may not be aware of what has occurred over the past few months, I have posted links to the correspondence between the Va Flaggers and the UDC.
Here is the first communication, requesting Battle Flags to be raised in support of the Confederate War Memorial and the Va Flaggers:
http://www.vaflaggers.com/
This is the response we received:
http://www.vaflaggers.com/
Here is our initial report from the March 10 incident:
http://www.vaflaggers.com/
The statement issued by the President General, UDC:
http://hqudc.org/about/
...and our response:
http://www.vaflaggers.com/
h...ttp://leg1.state.va.us/
The weather was absolutely gorgeous, with temperatures in the high 70’s, lots of sunshine, and a beautiful breeze to lift the flags! We had the pleasure of welcoming first time flagger Everette Ellis to the Boulevard, who carried a flag that flew 50 years ago, during the Centennial of the WBTS.
At one point, late in the afternoon, Cecil “Tommy” Thomas walked over to stand on the corner we call “Camp Grayson”. For months, we stood at this corner, which was a great spot for allowing us to explain to museum visitors what the VMFA had done. Since the March 10 incident with the United Daughters of the Confederacy, we have lost the use of that corner, even though the UDC told us that it is not actually their property. If we stand there, museum guards usually come out and tell us to move. This time, the guards came out of the building, but did not approach Tommy. They simply stood by the museum entrance, communicating with their radios and taking photographs. Tommy stood at the corner with a flag, for about 15 minutes, and Flagger Fred Merridew stood nearby, with a camera.
Fred concluded that the museum had most likely called the police and he and Tommy returned to the sidewalk.
Sure enough, a few minutes later, the Richmond Police arrived. Tommy and TriPp left their flags on the sidewalk and walked towards the museum entrance to use the restroom facilities. The Richmond Police Officers and a VMFA security guard stopped them on the walkway. The link below is to a recording of the conversation. The angry, loud voice you hear at the beginning is that of VMFA museum guard, Robert Harrison. He is the "cause I said so" guard from the confrontation with Flagger Jimmy Jones and the guard who likes to call TriPp and Susan by name and make intimidating comments. The other two cordial voices are the Richmond Police officers. What they have to say about why the VMFA called them shocked even the most battle hardened Flaggers.
Listen here:
www.vaflaggers.com/
It seems that Mrs. Martha Van Scheck, President General of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, filed a Trespassing Enforcement Authorization Letter with the Richmond Police just days after the incident in which the UDC called the police on the Va Flaggers for standing on the edge of their curb to take a photo. As you can clearly hear in the audio, the Richmond Police informed the Va Flaggers that, according to the instructions they received from the UDC, “You are welcome…your person…but they don’t want the flags on there,…so just don’t take the flags on there.” They told us that the letter was filed specifically for the Flaggers, to prevent us from carrying Confederate flags on the grounds of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. They further stated that by the authority the UDC has granted, Flaggers will be arrested if they are caught carrying a Confederate flag on the UDC grounds. This is in direct contradiction to earlier claims by UDC officials that the issues with trespassing had nothing to do with the Va Flaggers, or our flags.
For those who may not be aware of what has occurred over the past few months, I have posted links to the correspondence between the Va Flaggers and the UDC.
Here is the first communication, requesting Battle Flags to be raised in support of the Confederate War Memorial and the Va Flaggers:
http://www.vaflaggers.com/
This is the response we received:
http://www.vaflaggers.com/
Here is our initial report from the March 10 incident:
http://www.vaflaggers.com/
The statement issued by the President General, UDC:
http://hqudc.org/about/
...and our response:
http://www.vaflaggers.com/
Love shown by the UDC....NOT!!!!
If the U.D.c. does not respect the Battle Flag, then why are they even claiming to be an heritage organization? All Southern Flags flew over blood soaked freedom fighters. Shame on any group which tries to whitewash our history, especially the ones who should know better.
ReplyDeleteIf the U.D.c. does not respect the Battle Flag, then why are they even claiming to be an heritage organization? All Southern Flags flew over blood soaked freedom fighters. Shame on any group which tries to whitewash our history, especially the ones who should know better.
ReplyDelete