Stars and bars flew over the lawn outside the South Carolina Statehouse Sunday exactly one year after their removal from the same spot.
The South Carolina Secessionist Party led citizens in a rally for the Confederate flag both to honor those who fought in the Civil War's Confederate army and to express their contempt for state legislature's decision to take the flag down from Statehouse grounds.
Governor Nikki Haley pushed for a two-thirds House vote to remove the battle flag after a young white supremacist sported it as he allegedly shot and killed nine black parishioners in a historic Charleston church. Those events sparked a public conversation about the flag carrying a message of racism and hate.
The Secessionist Party and other Confederate flag supporters, however, express that the flag is representative of Southern heritage and pride. Some of the flags people carried on their person at the rally even read, "Heritage not hate."
Hundreds gathered in front of the Statehouse for the rally, which would consist of a ceremonial raising of the flag on a pole brought by the SCSP, guest speakers and music.
One second-year business student, Trey Weaver, stopped by the rally to show his own support for the flag.
"My ancestors were Confederate soldiers. They were all from the South, and this flag means nothing more to me than just a representation of what they fought for and what they stood for," Weaver said. "You know, people can change it to whatever they think they want it to be, but at the end of the day it's a flag and a symbol of Confederate pride."
After a prayer from a local clergyman, SCSP founder and chairman James Bessenger stepped up to the podium on the Statehouse steps and addressed the people in red and blue to signal the raising of the flag and the rest of the rally.
"Our flag is missing. We came to put it back," Bessenger said. "So, without any more delay, let's put it back." Those in attendance erupted in excited applause. As the flag went up, people chanted, "Leave it there! Leave it there!"
After some time had passed at the rally, which was blocked off by a gate as officers and troopers stood by, another group arrived on Gervais Street.
A group of counter-protesters stood on the other side of the gate, facing the rally. They were advocating against the Confederate flag and surrounding rhetoric as well as in support of the "Black Lives Matter" movement.
The protesters, one of whom spoke through a megaphone, drew the attention of the flag supporters briefly until Bessenger and others encouraged them to ignore them.
"It's not just us. It's people that look like you who understand what I'm saying, and that backs what I'm saying," a protester shouted to the flag supporters. "That flag means heritage is your hate. That flag means that your heritage is your hate."
Shortly after the first protesters arrived on the scene, they were joined by the Bastards Motorcycle Club, a local biker gang. They had originally planned to show up at the rally intending to combat hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, however such groups never arrived. The club members still stayed and helped protest against what they believe to be harmful rhetoric of the Confederate flag.
The club's president, Steven "Chavez" Parker, says that the motorcycle club has no opinion about the Confederate flag itself, and will respect those who truly fly it for the sake of their own heritage. He does, however, call for those who support the flag to make an effort to separate themselves from white supremacists who also fly it.
To conclude the speeches given by guest speakers at the event, Bessenger encouraged those in attendance not to wait for organizations such as the SCSP to put together events, but to actively push for acceptance of the flag and rally behind it themselves.
Bessenger also encouraged flag supporters to take time to learn the history of the Confederacy and enable themselves to thoroughly and intelligently voice why they stand by it.
According to Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott, there were no reported incidents as a result of Sundays events.