Anti-Confederate Flag hysteria is spreading.
New Castle County police are investigating the theft of a Confederate battle flag from outside a Glasgow home, where the words “[expletive] u racist” were found spray-painted on a boat at the property Wednesday. The case comes amid a turbulent national debate about the use of Confederate imagery and racial tension in the wake of the deadly South Carolina church shooting.
Homeowner Barry Binkley Jr. said he flew the rebel flag at his Frazer Road property for more than 15 years and never heard any complaints. He said he isn’t racist and displayed the flag because it is a symbol that ties him to friends and family in the South, including cousins in North Carolina.
The banner was on a flagpole outside the ranch-style home and visible from the street in the semirural neighborhood.
His truck window also was found broken Wednesday. A second Confederate banner on his garage was not disturbed.
The vandalism is thought to have occurred sometime between Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, said Binkley, who suspects whoever is behind the incident was trying to send a message.
“They are taking away my freedom to think what I want,” he said.
The case is being investigated as a theft and criminal mischief, but is not classified as a hate crime because no racial slurs were used, said New Castle County Police Officer Tracey Duffy.