Click here to subscribe today or Login.
BLOOMSBURG — Gene Stilp will burn his “racist” flag.
Stilp appeared before the Columbia County commissioners Thursday morning to ask permission to burn a combination Nazi-Confederate flag on the steps of the county courthouse.
Stilp said he was told he has the right to burn the flag, as allowed under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
“The commissioners said they won’t block our protest,” Stilp said. “They told me it must be done in a safe manner where the public is not in any danger.”
To assure the commissioners that the flag-burning would be safe, Stilp said he brought a large metal garbage container to the county commissioners’ work session.
“The garbage can will contain the heat,” Stilp said. “The public will not be in any danger.”
The flag-burning protest will take place at 11 a.m. Friday, Stilp said.
Stilp will burn a combination Nazi-Confederate flag in response to the Bloomsburg Fair’s decision to allow the sale of Confederate flags at this year’s fair, which begins Friday and runs through next Saturday.
At the 2016 Bloomsburg Fair, a vendor ignited a social media firestorm by selling flags depicting a swastika. He was asked to leave the fairgrounds, and officials said his vendor fee was refunded.
Fair officials said the decision to ask the vendor to leave the fairgrounds was based on public safety because threats had been received.
Paul Reichart, president of the Bloomsburg Fair Association board of directors, said the issue was discussed at a board meeting. He said vendors have rented their spots and he expects about a half dozen to be selling Confederate flags.
“What we’ve asked them to do is to display just one flag,” Reichart said. “We also asked that when they sell the flags, put them in a bag.”
Reichart said the situation will be monitored and if things get out of hand, action will be taken.
“We are located on private property,” Reichart said. “If there are protests, we can ask them to leave.”
Reichart said it will be interesting to see if there are any protesters at Stilp’s flag-burning protest.
“I wonder what the reaction will be,” he said.
In a news release issued Tuesday, Stilp asked: “Is racism, bigotry and hate alive in Columbia County and the surrounding counties?” He said the Confederate flag, like the Nazi flag, is a symbol of racism, hate and bigotry.
”It stands for all of the above, including the KKK,” Stilp said. “Is this what the residents of this county stand for?”
Stilp said he feels that activists have to burn the combination Nazi-Confederate flags in front of more courthouses in Pennsylvania to root out racism across the state. Stilp said the flag he intends to burn is two-sided — one side is the Nazi flag and the other is the Confederate battle flag.