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KC CRIMESTOPPERS WEBSITE OR USE THERE MOBILE APP. >> THE FIGHT OVER FLAGS IN INDEPENDENCE IS TAKING A NEW TURN TONIGHT. WHEN A PRIDE FLAG WAS FLOWN AT CITY HALL A PART-TIME CITY EMPLOYEE COMPLAINED AND CALLED FOR HIS CONFEDERATE FLAGS TO BE FLOWN. TODAY SOMEBODY PLACED NEW FLAGS ON THE LAWN AT CITY HALL 2-OF THEM WERE CONFEDERATE-ERA FLAGS. ONE WAS THE UNOFFICIAL BANNER OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA. THE OTHER THE MISSOURI BATTLE FLAG UNDER WHICH MISSOURI SOLDIERS OF THE CONFEDERACY FOUGHT. THE CITY QUICKLY TOOK THEM DOWN. IN A STATEMENT THE CITY CLARIFIED ITS POSITION SAYING CITIZEN SIGNS AND MESSAGES ARE NOT ALLOWED IN THE AREA TO MINIMIZE CLUTTER AND SO THAT THE CITY HALL SIGN IS CLEARLY VISIBLE. THEY ADDED THEY WELCOME CITIZENS’ FREE SPEECH AND REGULARLY WORK WITH THEM SO THEY CAN EXPRESS IT

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When a Pride flag was flown at Independence City Hall, a part-time city employee complained and called for his Confederate flags to be flown.On Monday, someone placed new flags on the lawn at city hall, two of them were Confederate-era flags. One of the flags was the unofficial banner of the Confederate States of America. The other – the Missouri battle flag – Missouri soldiers of the Confederate fought under.The city quickly took them down.Last week, Independence Mayor Eileen Weir responded after a city employee criticized her for flying the rainbow flag as a sign of support for Pride Month.“That gives me a sense of discrimination, that somebody’s not for equal rights,” Mark Velder said.Velder is a part-time custodian for the city, and at a City Council meeting last week, he lashed out about the rainbow flag flying at City Hall. He brought two Confederate flags to make a point.“I’m normal,” Velder said. “I’m normal, so I don’t want that flag to represent me.”“He is certainly entitled to his viewpoint,” Weir said.Weir said that when the City Council voted against flying the rainbow Pride flag on city buildings, she decided to put one outside her office as a show of support.“I feel very strongly that we have adopted nondiscrimination ordinances in our city, and I don’t want that to be just a hollow statement,” she said.Velder said during his speech that he believed he would be fired from his position with the city if he displayed a Confederate flag on the job.“I certainly don’t agree, obviously, with his viewpoint,” Weir said. “But I do agree that he has a right to express it.”Weir said employees have never been punished or asked to take down office displays.“The real rebel isn’t me. It’s whoever keeps putting that flag up,” Velder said.After his speech, Velder received applause from some in attendance.“You’re a friend of LGBT, you’re an enemy of the Lord Jesus Christ,” Velder said.Weir disagreed, saying, “I believe that our community feels that they are very welcomed and included."Velder has spoken to the council four times now. Weir said he’s part of a vocal minority.“The response from the community has been overwhelmingly positive,” she said.