Members of the Capt. Thomas H. Hobbs Camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans denounced Thursday a Gadsden group’s plans for a Confederate flag rally to be held in downtown Athens next month.

Tom Strain, lieutenant commander in chief of the national Sons of Confederate Veterans and a member of the Hobbs Camp, said he has had frequent dealings with the “Alabama Flaggers” and wants to make one point clear:

“I want the people of Athens and Limestone County to know that in no way are the Alabama Flaggers involved with the Sons of Confederate Veterans,” he told The News Courier Thursday.

After the initial article ran in the Tuesday edition of The News Courier, Strain sent an email to the Alabama Flaggers, asking them to leave well enough alone. Freda Burton, founder of Alabama Flaggers, posted the message to social media.

“I was surprised today to read in the local paper that you and your group have decided that you need to come here and “flag” OUR courthouse without contacting anyone in the Hobbs Camp about your intentions,” Strain wrote. “The Hobbs camp has worked diligently for over ten years with the local governments and have always had a good relationship with them. This can very easily change if you do not stand down and allow those of us that live here handle this issue. … I would like to ask politely that you DO NOT come to Athens and flag our Monument. We have a seventy plus member camp and don’t need an outside group come and destroy what we have built in this community.”

Later on Tuesday, Justin and Freda Burton took time during their weekly podcast to update listeners about the state of things in Limestone County. Freda read part of Strain’s message and then read her response.

“We will not step down without a reasonable outcome in this situation,” she wrote to Strain. “You will not take advantage of me or my group.”

Butting heads

Strain told The News Courier he’s worked with community leaders since 2004 to preserve Limestone County’s Civil War history and the Burtons are dead-set on ruining it. Strain said Freda sent a reply to his email containing the phrase “we do intend to destroy anything you’ve worked for.” She recanted on the podcast, saying the message was a typo and she then sent a different version to Strain.

“We do not plan to come up there and destroy anything as long as we are, you know, updated on what’s going on,” Freda said to listeners. “We’re not being rude.”

“I don’t believe that at all,” Strain told The News Courier. “That’s preposterous.”

Strain said the SCV has had several run-ins with the Burtons in the past. He believes the Burtons are simply acting out to be recognized by other “flagger” groups in Mississippi and Virginia.

“They can claim that it’s all about Southern heritage … if it was really all about the flag, why are they waiting two-and-a-half months (for the rally)?” he said. “Why didn’t they come that weekend (the flags were removed)?”

Strain added there are four Confederate memorials in Gadsden, where the Alabama Flaggers are based, but not one has a permanent Confederate battle flag.

“Why aren’t they taking care of their own backyard?” he asked.

Rally

Despite Strain’s criticisms, the Burtons are full-steam ahead for the July rally.

“As far as what’s going on in Limestone County, we intend to have those flags there permanently,” Justin Burton said in Tuesday’s podcast. “My honest opinion is they (the flags) need to be there every day, every month, 365 days a year until they are faded and need to be replaced. It’s your constitutional right to go to a grave, go to a monument and place a flag there — unless somebody wants a lawsuit and that can be arranged, I don’t know. It’s racial discrimination and we’re not going to take it anymore and we’re not going to step down. We’re not going to take any more propaganda from anybody. We are going to do what we need to do and we are going to fight for the Confederate cause and that’s it.”

Stain said his main issue in this incident is that the Flaggers did not reach out to his group, so they didn’t know the matter had already been resolved.

“I don’t see where there’s any need,” he said. “We’ve already handled this problem.”

Strain contacted Athens Mayor Ronnie Marks and Athens Police Chief Floyd Johnson to let them know his group will not be attending the rally, which happens to take place the day of the SCV national convention in Richmond, Virginia. Members not going to Richmond are advised not to attend, Strain added.