The debate about the Confederate flag flying off of I-95 has been going on for years. Last week, the county attorney said there was nothing he or the Board of Supervisors could do about the flag.
"The county has no legal authority to require the removal of that confederate flag from that private property on that flagpole which is 80 feet in height," said Charles Shumate.
A member of the audience yelled "coward," in response to those remarks.
Since that meeting, a group of residents opposed to the flag filed a zoning complaint arguing the flag is more of an advertisement, not a protected flag, because it belongs to the Virginia Flaggers group.
If Confederate flag in Stafford Co. isn't removed, group says it will put up a flag of their own. @wusa9 pic.twitter.com/rQMuGrCZWk
— Marcella Robertson (@Marcella_Rob) September 27, 2017
The goal of that complain is to have the flag lowered. If that doesn't happen, Susan Kosior, a member of the group opposing the flag says she will put up a flag of her own. She applied and was approved for a permit to put an 80 foot flag pole in her yard.
"My plan is to put a giant Black Lives Matter flag up. I think it will be highly visible in the community. It will be visible from tourist areas and I think it will show not everybody in this community embraces the message of the Confederate flag," said Kosior.
Sending that message is especially important to Kosior.
"I have a young daughter of color and I want her to know that we don't have to put up with this kind of racism and behavior. As a parent I think it's my duty to fight for a better world for her," she said.
The total cost of the flag pole would be close to $25,000. We weren't able to get in touch with the property owner whose land the flag stands on. During this years long debate however, not everyone wants it gone.
"It's history, it's on a flag, on a pole. It's on private property so who are we to tell somebody what they can or cannot do on that private property," said one Stafford County resident at a recent board of supervisors meeting.
