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Vets Protest Confederate Exclusion from Parade

Vets Protest Confederate Exclusion from Parade
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By West Kentucky Star Staff
Sep. 09, 2017 | PADUCAH, KY
By West Kentucky Star Staff Sep. 09, 2017 | 12:02 AM | PADUCAH, KY
A group of veterans gathered outside Paducah's City Hall on Friday, protesting a decision to exclude the battle flag of the Confederate States of America in the upcoming Veteran's Day parade.

WKMS reports the group wants city leaders to follow through on a promised meeting with the Sons of Confederate Veterans to discuss the matter. A previous meeting set for August was postponed since it coincided with the local Emancipation Day celebration, and nothing official has happened since.

The Veteran's Day Committee decided in April to only allow participants in the parade to fly the American Flag or a flag for veterans of U.S. armed forces. The City Commission passed a resolution in May that supported the committee's statement of purpose, which would exclude the Sons of Confederate Veterans from the event for the first time in several years.

Veteran Michael Swinford told WKMS the resolution is “immoral, illegal, improper and impetuous,” and said the group is planning to take legal action using local attorneys and the ACLU. 

Swinford said the Sons of Confederate Veterans have nothing to do with the Ku Klux Klan, Antifa, and other groups, and "We don't hate anyone."

The ongoing debate about the parade has been intensified by the violence that broke out August 12 in Charlottesville, Virginia, when white supremacists and counter-protesters clashed in the streets, and one person died.

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