Hundreds rally in support of playboy air force vet who was arrested for taking on flag tramplers

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Hundreds protested an Air Force vet and former Playboy model's arrest when she tried to stop people from trampling on a flag
Valdosta State University closed after police warned there would be thousands of protesters and as they searched for student Eric Sheppard
Police said they traced a gun to a protester who was part of the flag-walking demonstration, and issued a warrant for Eric Sheppard's arrest
Michelle Manhart, 38, was handcuffed at Valdosta State University, Georgia
Former USAF training sergeant took flag from campus protesters on Friday
Police arrested her for not giving it back because of how it was treated
Manhart posed for raunchy military-themed Playboy spread in 2007
Was demoted from her sergeant rank, and later left the military

By Alexandra Klausner For Dailymail.com and Associated Press

Published: 20:24 EST, 24 April 2015 | Updated: 02:48 EST, 25 April 2015

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Student demonstrators who walked on an American flag to protest racism sparked a countermovement, prompting a south Georgia university to cancel classes Friday ahead of a rally that drew hundreds to Valdosta.

Valdosta State University found itself in the center of a controversy after a video shared on social media showed an Air Force veteran and former Playboy model, Michelle Manhart, taking an American flag from demonstrators who had walked on it to protest racism.

At the protest, held a week ago, Manhart was detained by police when she refused to return the flag.

Big rally: Flag supporters attend a rally on Friday in Valdosta, Georgia that caused the Valdosta State University to close down for the day

Closed: Uproar over a protest in which demonstrators walked on an American flag has prompted a south Georgia university to cancel classes ahead of the rally expected to draw crowds of flag supporters to Valdosta

Struggle: Manhart, 38, is shown, left, refusing to release a flag which protesters were trampling on. In the right-hand photograph she is seen being arrested at Valdosta State University in Georgia

Hunt: Police said they traced the gun to a protester who was part of the flag-walking demonstration, and they issued a warrant for Eric Sheppard's arrest on charges of bringing a firearm onto a college campus

She later was banned from the campus of 11,500 students. She was not a student at Valdosta State, according to the school.

The flag-walking demonstration involved three protesters, university spokesman Andy Clark said.

Meanwhile, tensions rose at Valdosta State when campus police found a backpack containing a handgun on Tuesday.

Police said they traced the gun to a protester who was part of the flag-walking demonstration, and they issued a warrant for Eric Sheppard's arrest on charges of bringing a firearm onto a college campus. Sheppard fled and has not been found by authorities, Clark said.

Flag supporters gathered for a rally Friday afternoon, and university administrators said the possibility of thousands of people rallying on the outskirts of campus ultimately led to the decision to give students a day off.

'That level of traffic and that many people will disrupt a lot of things in the city,' Clark said.

'We're from an overall safety perspective looking to close the campus down today so they can have a peaceful rally.'

Organizers of the 'Flags Over VSU' rally said they expected as many as 4,000 people Friday afternoon, WALB-TV reported .

University administrators arranged for extra police to be on campus to provide security during the rally, Clark told The Valdosta Daily Times.

Local law enforcement officials said the crowd that gathered was generally peaceful.

Pro-flag: A flag supporter waves a large American flag while attending a rally on Friday in support of the flag

In support: Flag supporters on motorbikes attend a rally on Friday in support of Michelle Manhart

University administrators faced a backlash on social media after Manhart was issued a criminal trespass warning, essentially banning her from campus. Critics saw the university as siding with demonstrators who walked on the flag over a military veteran trying to save it.

'We were protecting their right to free speech and civil liberties' without taking sides, Clark said.

NBC reports that some people T-shirts with the American flag and the words 'Try walking on this flag' written on the back and others carried signs.

Cover girl: After her original feature, Manhart appeared in Playboy again. She is shown here on the cover of the Mexican edition

NBC spoke with Kim Thompson who drove 30 miles to join in the rally.

'I think it's going to be amazing. I think it's actually going to be part of history,' she said.

Thompson, the wife of a sailor, said that after September 11 she became more patriotic than ever and felt that she needed to speak up after watching the flag get trampled.

Michelle Manhart, 38, was handcuffed by police at Valdosta State University, Georgia, and driven off in a patrol car after grabbing the Stars and Stripes and refusing to return it to the student demonstrators last week.

Video footage of the event, last Friday, shows Manhart struggling with officers, who force her to the ground after she refuses to let the flag go.

It shows her surrounded by protesters on the campus, who demand their property be returned. In response, Manhart says the flag belongs to 'the entire United States'.

Campus police try to convince her to drop the flag, but Manhart, a former training sergeant who served in Kuwait, refuses.

Speaking to the Valdosta Daily Times about her intervention, she said: 'I did not want anything like this, but I got a call from a student who told me that the flag was on the ground, and they were walking on it.

'I was just going over there to pick up the flag off the ground. I don’t know what their cause is, but I went to pick it up because it doesn’t deserve to be on the ground.'

She continued: 'If your cause is racism then find some white people and walk on them.

'But to walk on the flag is walking on our symbol of freedom. You have the freedom to do what you are doing because of it. I’m not fighting against them. I’m fighting against the way they are going about it.'

Cause: Manhart came to the campus because she heard students were walking on the flag, as seen above

Female Air Force vet arrested trying to stop US flag protest

Air Force to bare force: Manhart was once a Staff Sergeant at the San Antonio Air Force training camp (right), but was demoted when she appeared nude in Playboy magazine. She is shown left holding a copy of the issue containing her spread

According to the Daily Times, the group didn't want to press charges against Manhart. However, police gave her a trespass warning, which bans her from the campus.

Manhart has come under fire for standing up for her beliefs before. In 2007 she made national headlines - and lost her job - for posing nude for Playboy magazine.

Explicit photographs from the periodical's February 2007 issue show then-Sergeant Manhart in a variety of provocative poses - first with, then later without - her military uniform.

When Air Force bosses got wind of the racy feature, they relieved her of her duties at the Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas.

She was later demoted, and ultimately left the Air Force. However, she remained defiant, telling reporters at the time 'I didn't do anything wrong, so I didn't think it would be a major issue'.

The decision brought an end to 14 years of service

She later appeared in other editions of Playboy - including the cover of the Mexican edition - and posed for animal rights group Peta to support an anti-fur campaign.

The Daily Times reported that Manhart now intends to hold a pro-military counter-demonstration in the town on Wednesday.

In response to the incident, the university's president says he disapproves of the flag-trampling protest, but recognizes their right to express themselves that way if they choose.

Dr William McKinney said: 'The American flag represents everything that is best about our country. As the Supreme Court has held, one of those things is the right to free speech, which includes the right to disrespect even the symbol of our country.

'While I firmly disagree with the actions of the protesters, I understand their right to protest.'