Formal charges have now been brought against two men arrested following a protest of a vote to support removing the state flag at Ole Miss.
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The University of Mississippi Medical Center recently stopped flying the state flag on campus.
US attorney’s office spokesman Chad Lamar says the men are charged with possessing a firearm in a school zone.
Bennett says in a statement that only the US flag will fly on campus because it’s a unifying symbol.
Less than a week after the Mississippi state flag was lowered from its flag pole on the Ole Miss campus, the University of Southern Mississippi has followed suit.
Stocks said he mentioned the flag to Vitter when the chancellor candidate visited Oxford on Saturday to watch Ole Miss beat Texas A&M University in football.
There have been no similar resolutions at USM, where three flagpoles near a busy street now fly US flags. The display previously had the USA flag in the center, flanked by a state flag and a black-and-gold USM flag.
Mississippi House Speaker Philip Gunn said months ago that it’s time to change the flag, but his fellow Republican, Gov. Phil Bryant, says Mississippi voters should again decide the flag’s future.
Ian Shurden, a junior recreational therapy major, said the Confederate flag was a symbol of history. Police said the attack was racially motivated.
Holly Fedele, a graduate student in the School of Social Work, agreed the flag should not represent the state or be flown at Southern Miss.
The state flag has been a sensitive topic as Mississippi prepares to elect legislators and statewide officials next week.
“It’s the people they need to respect, not the governor, but the majority of the people who voted for that to be the state flag”, Bryant said.
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“We have a pretty large number of students and faculty who consistently and regularly remind us that our state flag is not a welcoming symbol”, Stocks said. “They should be respected and their decisions should be respected”.
