Group raises Confederate flag near interstate in N.C.

HILDEBRAN, N.C. (AP) — A group called the Sons of Confederate Veterans has raised a 20-foot-by-30-foot Confederate flag on an 80-foot pole near an interstate in North Carolina.

WSOC-TV reports that the flag was raised near Interstate 40 in Burke County on Friday. The area is between Asheville and Winston-Salem.

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The flag replaces a smaller version that had been there.

The flag has gone up as Confederate statues are being taken down across the southern U.S. and in other parts of the country.

Many Americans have been protesting police brutality and racism following the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died in Minneapolis police custody.

Confederate symbols across the South have been targeted for vandalism during demonstrations sparked by Floyd’s death. Even some of their longtime defenders have decided to remove them.

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The large Confederate flag in North Carolina is on private property. The flag cost nearly $800.

Wendell Hildebran, the mayor of the nearby town of Hidebran, said he’s against the flag and that numerous others are as well.