Confederate flag supporters in Florida create 8 mile convoy in protest

Home Top

'This life is short and bitter': How Chattanooga gunman posted cryptic Islam blog three days before shooting dead four Marines as SWAT team raid his home and remove two women in handcuffs
GUILTY! James Holmes faces death penalty after he is found guilty of all 166 charges including first-degree murder in Colorado movie theater shooting
From DUI arrest with white powder around his nose to devout Islam blogging: The extremes of Marine killer Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez
'I fought the trolls in the trenches': Former Reddit CEO Ellen Pao describes her plight in op-ed as she warns 'trolls are winning the battle for the internet'
Johnny Depp criticized for letting 16-year-old daughter pose seductively in 'baby doll' video for Chanel
Johnny Depp's wife Amber Heard could face ten years in prison as she is charged with illegally smuggling pet dogs Pistol and Boo into Australia on a private jet
Hillary Clinton proposes businesses that share profits with their employees receive 15% tax credits
Cut the crunches! Personal trainer insists doing sit-ups every day WON'T give you washboard abs - and can actually do more harm than good
Losing weight really IS impossible: The vast majority of people who pile on the pounds never lose them (at least not in the long run)
'There but for the grace of God': Obama visits federal prison in Oklahoma and says nonviolent drug criminals 'made mistakes that aren't that different from the mistakes I made'
The phone that goes to 11: Rock amp maker Marshall reveals its first smartphone for music fans - and says it is the loudest on Earth
Wanted posters for El Chapo published in Mexican newspapers offer $4M reward as authorities scramble to recapture the infamous drug lord
Google Self-Driving car involved in its first injury accident: Tech giant's autonomous car is rear-ended causing 'minor whiplash' to three employees
'Put it on expenses': Business travelers are now claiming more Uber rides than taxi journeys
Handcuffed woman who lost two front teeth after being BODY SLAMMED by cop in a hospital after she insulted his wife sues for $500,000
EXCLUSIVE: More ammo for Trump: How housing an illegal immigrant for a night in the United States' biggest detention center costs more than a stay at the nearest four-star Hilton Hotel
It's war against The Donald as Rick Perry says Trump is spewing 'a toxic mix of demagoguery and nonsense' on border security -- but the billionaire is still leading in national polls
EXCLUSIVE: Family members gather and wipe tears from their eyes at Bobbi Kristina's hospice after police and a lawyer arrived on the scene and a hearse is spotted backing up to a mysterious tent erected outside
Terror on the high seas: Egyptian navy vessel erupts in huge fireball as ISIS carry out rocket strike on patrol ship in the Mediterranean
Mammals went through an 'explosion' of evolution while dinosaurs roamed the Earth
How did Sandra die in jail? Family and friends refuse to believe police story that Chicago civil rights activist killed herself after being arrested during traumatic traffic stop
TLC cancels 19 Kids and Counting in wake of Josh Duggar scandal but announces his sisters Jessa and Jill was be featured in commercial-free child molestation special
The man-eater who invented supermodels: Countless men adored her, many women loathed her. How New York's Eileen Ford became the most powerful force in fashion
Caitlyn Jenner pictured behind-the-scenes of the ESPYs with her glam squad in new Instagram snap...as social media is forced to censor hate-filled comments

More than 1,500 pickups, motorcycles and cars took part in event in Ocala
The 'Pride Ride' was a protest at the removal of flag from state buildings
Gunshots were fired at the parade but no one was injured, say police
A bid to take flag down from city's government complex has been rejected
Organizer said it 'doesn't symbolize hate unless you think it's hate'

Published: 03:14 EST, 13 July 2015 | Updated: 18:05 EST, 13 July 2015

182

View
comments

Thousands of supporters of the Confederate flag have risen up - creating an eight-mile convoy of cars, motorbikes and pick-ups all displaying the controversial symbol.

Horns blared and flags fluttered from the 1,500 vehicles taking part in the Florida Southern Pride Ride on Sunday.

Protesters against the parade fired at least six gunshots towards the convoy but no one was injured, reported wftv.

Scroll down for video

Around 4,500 people took part in the Florida Southern Pride Ride in Ocala, which was organized in protest of the removal of the Confederacy symbol from public buildings in the southern states

'I ain't coming down': Confederate flags bearing defiant slogans were flown by parade-goers

Thousands rally in support of Confederate flag in Florida

A little boy wrapped up in a Confederate flag watches the parade with his father

Organizer David Stone, 38, said: 'That flag has a lot of different meanings to a lot of different people. It doesn't symbolize hate unless you think it's hate - and that's your problem, not mine.'

Around 4,500 people - some from as far away as California - took part in the protest against the removal of Confederate flags on public buildings throughout the South. Many wore T-shirts or flew flags with slogans including 'Heritage not hate', 'Team Redneck' and 'I'm not coming down'.

The convoy was led by a reproduction of the 'General Lee' car used in TV show The Dukes of Hazzard.

The terminus of the 17-mile parade was changed at the last minute to avoid a largely black neighborhood where residents opposed the event, according to Ocala Sergeant Robie Bonner.

Police said several shots were fired from an apartment complex near the Livestock Pavilion where the ride started. However residents there insisted the shots came from people taking part in the parade.

'They come, they watch them run through on their motorcycles, running red lights and throwing beer bottles. The police didn’t stop them or nothing,' said resident Jason Carter.

Despite the gunfire, the police said the event was overall peaceful.

In Ocala, the seat of Marion County, an administrator had ordered the Confederate flag be removed from a government complex in Ocala. But his decision was overturned by county leaders last week.

'Team Redneck': Some parader-goers wore T-shirts with slogans and stuck stickers of the flag on their cars

A pair wearing matching Confederate flag tops sign up to join the Florida Southern Pride Ride

Supporters of the flag at Sunday's event in Ocala. They insist it is a honorable symbol of regional pride and a mark of respect for Southern soldiers who died in the American civil war

The 'General Lee' car - a reproduction of the famed Duked of Hazzard vehicle - that led Sunday's parade

Ocala resident and flag supporter Jessica McRee, 29, accused those who wanted to remove it of trying to re-write history. 'It's just about heritage,' she said. 'I'm upset they want to remove a piece of history.'

Meanwhile Pride Ride attendee Bryan Williams told wftv: 'This is my flag. It just mean(s) this is the South flag. Nothing against anybody. That’s just what I was raised under. I carry it with me all the time.'

And Ocala resident Pat Stone said: 'You can't take this away. Next thing will be our gun right(s) - we are not going to let that happen.'

Suspected Charleston massacre gunman Dylann Roof holds a Confederate flag in a photo he posted online

Dylann Roof holding a Confederate flag and a gun

Officials in southern states have been removing symbols of the Confederacy from public parks, buildings and shops after the massacre of nine black people in a church in Charleston, South Carolina, last month.

The suspected gunman, Dylann Roof, was a white supremacist who'd been pictured with the Confederate flag - which was originally flown by seven states in the South whose economies relied on slavery of African Americans.

Ocala resident Galina Abdelaziz, 18, who protested against the Pride Ride yesterday, said: 'It's really discouraging to me to see this in my hometown.'

But supporters of the flag claim it is an honorable symbol of regional pride - a mark of respect for Southern soldiers who died in the American Civil War.

'A backlash is beginning,' said Ben Jones, a spokesman for the Sons of Confederate Veterans, which represents 30,000 descendants of Confederate soldiers. 'We are putting flags out. Everyone time one is taken down, we put five or six of them up.'

South Carolina Confederate flag heads to the relic room