The South Carolina Secessionist Party will rally behind the Confederate flag on July 10, one year after the battle flag's removal from the top of the State House.
The members of the party will raise the flag on State House grounds, protesting its removal from government property and remembering the Civil War soldiers who flew it. Governor Nikki Haley proposed that the flag be taken down after a white supremacist, sporting the flag, allegedly shot and killed nine parishioners in a historic Charleston church.
The Secessionist Party protested the decision and are scheduled to do so again with the Civil War flag hoisted up on 25-foot pole. According to their reservations for Sunday, an estimated 150 to 300 people will be in attendance. In addition, party founder James Bessenger is inviting secessionists from other states.
"Our treacherous state legislature voted to remove it without the consent of the people in our state," the Party said in an invitation to the rally. "We, however, owe this opportunity to them. Without their poor judgment and lack of integrity, we would not have this cause."
Should weather permit, the flag raising rally will be held at 11 a.m. A Confederate Memorial Honor Guard will appear at 9 a.m. to honor South Carolinians who fought and died for the Confederacy and will help the SCSP raise their flag.
"The same flag, the same place, the same day," the SCSP said on Facebook in their description of the upcoming event. "Fellow Southerners from across the Southern States will stand together in solidarity and defense of what we hold sacred."
The page also indicates that there will be guest speakers and live music from David Koons and the Koyotes.
A week following the removal of the flag, the State House was visited by members of the Ku Klux Klan as well as the Black Panther Party. The groups' respective rallies conflicted and escalated to necessitate police response. Five people were arrested, according to The State.
The groups reportedly plan to attend Sunday's rally, and lawmakers are working to prevent them from doing so at the same time in order to prevent a repeat of the chaos.
"I happen to feel you can protect and defend the First Amendment and the public at the same time," state Sen. Harvey Peeler said. "The person who schedules a KKK rally and Black Panthers rally on the State House grounds at the same time has no common sense."
Bessenger says that should the Klan attend the rally, the SCSP will respect their right to be there, but ignore them.
The SCSP found more reason to detest the state legislature when Haley allowed a Coastal Carolina University flag to fly atop the State House in celebration of the university's NCAA College World Series national baseball championship.
Among others, Bessenger claims that flying CCU's flag on top of the building breaks a clear state law regarding flags. The law, called The Heritage Act, states that the United States flag and the South Carolina flag may fly atop the State House and cannot be changed or removed without a two-thirds majority vote to do so.
Haley pushed for the vote to remove the Confederate flag in 2015, but there was apparently no such vote to raise the CCU flag.
"To our knowledge no special session was called or two thirds vote was taken to consider the raising of this flag in the event that Coastal should win," Bessenger wrote in a statement on behalf of the SCSP. "Our governor was willing to go through [calling a session to vote on the removal of the Confederate flag] to get a law put on the books ... Then, she plays a part in violating the same law."
The flag is seen as a symbol of Southern heritage and pride by many, including the SCSP, but is seen as a symbol of hate by those opposed to it and in favor of its removal. According to Bessenger, Sunday's event will not be hateful. He says SCSP is rallying to honor those who sacrificed their lives for the people of South Carolina in the Civil War.
The SCSP will raise the flag next to the Confederate Soldier Monument on State House grounds, and it is scheduled to be taken down when the event concludes in the evening.
A flyer for the rally reads, "[I]n defiance of political correctness and the corruption of the South Carolina Governor and Legislature, the flag of our forebears will fly once again."