A black Mississippi man who often dressed in Confederate regalia to support the state flag has died in a one-car accident.

The Highway Patrol says 49-year-old Anthony Hervey was killed Sunday when the 2005 Ford Explorer he was driving left the roadway and overturned on Mississippi Highway 6 in Lafayette County.

A passenger in Harvey's car, Arlene Barnum, tells The Associated Press that Hervey swerved and crashed after another vehicle carrying four or five young black men pulled up alongside them, yelling and looking angry.

Dead: Anthony Hervey, a Mississippi man well-known in his community for his support of the Confederate flag, has died after a car crash before which a surviving passenger says they were chased by a car load of heckling young black men

Survivor: Arlene Barnum (left), Hervey's (right) fellow black supporter of the Confederate flag, said they were chased following a rally in Alabama while en route home to Mississippi

'It spun like crazy and we flipped, flipped, flipped. It was awful,' Barnum said

Barnum said Hervey yelled something back at the other vehicle before losing control and crashing.

'It spun like crazy and we flipped, flipped, flipped. It was awful,' she said.

She said she gave that account to a Mississippi state trooper when she was taken to a hospital after the accident.

In the moments following the crash, Barnum was apparently able to post to Facebook, where she wrote:

'HELP.. They after us. My vehicle inside down.'

Shortly after, Barnum posted again:

'Anthony Hervy pinned in ., gas leaking.'

Pinned inside: Barnun was able to post to Facebook while still inside the car prior to her rescue

Barnum told the McAlester News-Capital that she wasn't particularly well acquainted with her fellow black Confederate flag supporter, but that she'd let him drive her truck.

'I didn't know him, really,' Barham said of Hervey. 'I gave him a ride to the rally.'

The Mississippi Highway Patrol did not immediately respond to an Associated Press query asking if officials are investigating Barnum's account.

Mississippi Highway Patrol spokesman Johnny Poulos said Monday in a written statement that no other details of the accident will be available until accident reconstruction experts have had a chance to take a look at the evidence.

Barnum said she and Hervey had been returning home Sunday from Birmingham, Alabama, where they attended a Saturday rally to save the Linn Park Confederate Monument. City leaders there recently voted to remove the memorial from the park.

Barnum said they were in her SUV, which was not displaying any Confederate flags or stickers.

Back to Mississippi: Barnum and Hervey had been at an Alabama rally held in support of the Confederate flag over the weekend. The accident occurred while they were en route back to Mississippi, where the acquaintances called separate towns home

Barnum told reporters that she had no idea whether she and Hervey were followed back to Mississippi from the rally

She said she had no idea whether they had been followed from Birmingham.

Hervey, of Oxford, has drawn attention over the years for opposing efforts to change the flag. He said he dressed in Rebel soldier garb to honor blacks who served with the Confederacy during the Civil War. He was often seen often wearing the Confederate uniform and waving a Rebel flag on the Oxford square.

In an interview with the Associated Press in 2001 after a new state flag design was defeated, Hervey said Mississippians' support of the flag with a Confederate battle emblem in the corner is akin to 'standing up for home.'

'This is not racism. This is my heritage,' Hervey said.

Hervey was also the author of a book titled Why I Wave the Confederate Flag, Written by a Black Man.

The book's description runs, in part:

'What makes this book dangerous is its raw honesty. Mr. Hervey lifts the veil of Black decadence at the same time he exposes the lies and political correctness of modern day America.'

'WHY I WAVE THE CONFEDERATE FLAG' Anthony Hervey was well known as his town's vocal and visible black supporter of the Confederate Flag. In 2006, the Oxford man even published a book explaining his reasoning, the description for which reads: Congress shall make no law respecting and establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom if speech, or of the press;or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. This book is about truth and passion. What makes this book dangerous is its raw honesty. Mr. Hervey lifts the veil of Black decadence at the same time he exposes the lies and political correctness of modern day America. Mr. Hervey said 'I show that the Civil War was not fought over slavery and that the demise of my race in America is not of the White man, but rather of our own making. In this book I show how Blacks in America ran away from physical bondage to one far worse-- mental bondage.' A percentage of the proceeds of the sale of this book will aid Mr. Hervey in his legal defense for his false imprisonment and a percentage will be donated to the preservation of Southern Heritage. A financial contribution will be given to the victims of Katrina both Black and White. Source: Amazon Advertisement

In an interview with the Associated Press in 2001 after a new state flag design was defeated, Hervey said Mississippians' support of the flag with a Confederate battle emblem in the corner is akin to 'standing up for home'