Hundreds of people from across the state gathered Sunday in support of the Confederate flag at a rally in Marion County, while others showed up against it.
The event, organized by Florida Southern Pride Ride, began at the Southeastern Livestock Pavilion.
The rally comes a day after a Confederate flag that was flying at the Marion County McPherson Governmental Complex was removed by a protestor.
An unidentified man carried the flag and pole to the front door of the government building and left it there. The man, who refused to give his name, claimed the flag fell down.
A short while later, a city worker took the flag with the pole and drove away indicating it was for "safe keeping."
A couple of hours after that, Quinn Baudouin, claiming to have the Marion County Historical commission's authority and believing the flag was brought down maliciously, brought down the French Flag from the "Nations" flag display at the complex and replaced it with a Confederate flag he had at home. He then moved the entire pole to where the Confederate flag was originally standing.
The banner was part of a five-flag display of "nations" flags that have flown over Florida. The flag was actually a national flag of the Confederate States of America, not the battle flag that was permanently removed in South Carolina on Friday. The flags of Spain, France and Great Britain also fly in the display, along with the American flag.
Around 6 p.m. a city employee removed the French flag and put the original Confederate flag back up.
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The decision to keep a Confederate flag at the Marion County government facility sparked a protest by people for and against the flag during the weekend.
Many people rallied in support of flying the Confederate flag this Sunday.
“And I’m hoping that the word gets out that it is about heritage. This is not about race and it’s not about hate. And that’s the only reason I wanted to come and show my support,” said Karla McDonald, who supports the confederate flag.
Several people also showed up to protest the large display of a flag they say represents racism and hate. Those protesters held up posters, one with the confederate flag symbol in a circle that was crossed out.
“I’m hurt. I think as a young American I didn’t want to confront the realities that racism is the history of white supremacy is still real," said Laila Abdelaziz, who is protesting against the confederate flag.
Marion County District 5 Commissioner Earl Arnett addressed the crowd, saying the eyes of the whole country would be watching.
“They’re watching what we’re doing, and I think it behooves all of us to honor the confederate flag and represent it in a way that we want it to be represented, and not a lot of the issues that people are saying it represents,” said Commissioner Earl Arnett of Marion County District 5.
The Marion County Commission voted unanimously to again fly the Confederate flag in front of a government building on Tuesday, weeks after it had been taken down.
The interim county administrator had removed the flag at the McPherson Governmental Complex in Ocala, joining other communities across the South and nationwide that took down or reconsidered Confederate symbols after the June 17 killing of nine black people at a Charleston, South Carolina, church. A white man who appeared in photos waving Confederate flags is charged.