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I
was at the VMFA today not to protest anything but to honor my ancestor
who spent 16 years living at the old soldiers home here in Richmond
Virginia. This is the day my ancestor was admitted to old the soldiers
home in 1908. I went on the property to honor
this ancestor with a flag the museum has put in their policies that I
cannot carry on the property. I asked when approached by security if I
could see va law or statutes that made it illegal. Head of VMFA security
left and came back with a procedure and rules that they made and
printed up to say that it was forbidden on the property with the flag. I
made the comment to the Richmond police officers that piece of paper
was not Virginia law and how could i be doing anything illegal in a
PUBLIC STATE PARK! I did not get a answer back from the RIchmond officer
but was asked to leave again. Security officer coles approached me and
notified me that I had 2 choices to sign a summons and leave the
property or get arrested. I told him that I wasnt signing anything.
The
head of VMFA security said that the citation was off the tables as I was
walking off the property and on to the sidewalk. I went to walk back on
the public side walk where I was pushed from behind , my flag pole
pulled from my hand and I went directly to the RIchmond Police officers
asking them to protect me from the security guard. At this point I was
arrested for trespassing. I was not breaking any laws. Just because
someone makes up a rule it doesn't mean it is right or constitutional.
No one could show me I was breaking the law in a public park. I spent
less than 30 mins in handcuffs, walked back from point 9th street, and
made it to my daughters birthday dinner and party.. Court is feb4th.. I
am ready to accept any responsibility for breaking any law if I did and I
leave the outcome in Gods hands now.
I'm afraid freedom and liberty are fading away.
ReplyDeleteGot to fight back.
DeleteI watched the video and didn't see anyone push you. Please go fly your flag elsewhere, you are giving the intelligent people of Richmond a bad name. There are so many better ways you could spend your time than marching around with a symbol that has evolved into one of hate. The civil war is over.
ReplyDeleteGo screw yourself.
DeleteAnonymous,
DeleteI would say that you are not a Southerner, but merely a recent transplant to South of Mason Dixon. In any case, you are un-American.
Seeing as you have no respect for past generations who helped bring you into this world, I do hope your children or grandchildren would comment in the manner in which you just have.
D.Stroud
ENC
Trippy Dippy Lewis got was he deserved. To bad Susan F. Hathaway was not there to share his ride in the paddy wagon.
ReplyDeleteOn January 12th, 1908, Richard Elam was admitted as a resident to the Old Soldiers Home on the Boulevard in Richmond, Virginia, homeless and with no means of support. Private Elam had served with the 6th Va Infantry, Co. K in the War Between the States and was taken prisoner by the enemy at Petersburg.
ReplyDeleteHe was but 12 years old when he entered the Confederate Army and fought to defend Virginia.
105 years later, January 12th, 2013, his cousin, TriPp Lewis decided to take the opportunity to honor the anniversary of his arrival on those same grounds, now designated perpetually as "Confederate Memorial Park".
Immediately upon stepping onto the grounds, Mr. Lewis was approached by a Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) Security Guard, who told him to leave the property. Mr. Lewis explained that he was there as a Virginia citizen to honor his ancestor who had lived and died on the property. After some discussion, and when he attempted to leave the property and return to the public sidewalk, Mr. Lewis was arrested by museum security guards. He was charged with misdemeanor trespassing and released immediately on his own recognizance.
While the Virginia Flaggers have always engaged in peaceful protests, and followed all legal directives by authorities, we will not stand idly by while others are bullied or illegally harassed. Although Mr. Lewis was acting as a private citizen in this instance, we offer him our full support and will stand by him in his defense of these unfair and unreasonable charges.
We know that there were only the most honorable intentions of one man and his children... to honor their ancestor on the hallowed grounds of the park, and it is apparent that museum officials were determined to make an example of him, in the presence of his children.
Nevertheless, the forthcoming legal proceedings will offer us the chance to challenge the arbitrary and ever-changing restrictions placed on the Flaggers by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and allow a court of law to decide the constitutionality of restricting the display of a Confederate Flag on Virginia State Property, specifically designated as "Confederate Memorial Park".
It will also allow us the opportunity to further expose the discriminatory and illegal act of the forced removal of Confederate flags from the portico of the Confederate Memorial Chapel and give us grounds to introduce this evidence into the public record via court proceedings and legal filings.
Now is the time for VMFA officials to recognize that there would be no Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, but for the generosity of the men of the Robert E. Lee Camp #1, United Confederate Veterans, who put their faith and trust in the Commonwealth that sent them to war....the same Commonwealth who now desecrates the Confederate Memorial Chapel, and threatens, intimidates, and arrests descendants of Confederate veterans who wish to honor their ancestors by carrying a Confederate flag on the very same grounds built by Confederate Veterans.
-Grayson Jennings, Va Flaggers
some interesting points to consider regarding the flag situation and the lease that was signed by the Confederate Sons of Veterans that operate the chapel:
Deletehttp://cwmemory.com/2013/01/13/virginia-flagger-arrested/