LEXINGTON, Va. (AP) — A rural Virginia city where Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson are buried voted to limit the flying of the Confederate flag on poles on several downtown streets.
The 4-1 vote Thursday night by the Lexington City Council allows only the Virginia, U.S. and city flags to be displayed. Personal displays of the flag are not affected.
About 100 people led by the Sons of Confederate Veterans rallied before the vote. They then showed up in force to speak to city council to dissuade them from enacting the ordinance.
Some residents complained that the flag is a symbol of the South’s history of slavery and shouldn’t be endorsed by the city.
After the vote, the Sons said they would legally challenge the flag ban in the city of 7,000.
