Usually, when you hear of a pride march, you think about the LGBTQ community celebrating how far they have come but this type of pride march is not quite what you would expect. It seems a family was marching down the street in Chesterfield where they were voicing their pride for their southern heritage. This is when things went south as a man came up to them & tried to incite violence against them. Reports indicate that 46-year-old James Baker confronted the family with a firearm and pointed it at one of the members of their family. He was not initially charged with any crime but later on, was taken into custody and charged with wielding a gun. This is often classified as a class one misdemeanor. In light of this, the family has said they will not stop celebrating the heritage they hold in such high esteem. The father claims that he was born & raised here in the south and as such has had many ancestors fight and die for this great nation of his.
He claims that he has always flown the confederate flag & that this does not make him a racist. It just makes him a proud southerner. He noted that he refuses to be intimidated by people who are trying to scare him away while acting ignorant. He does not think that people should think of this as a race issue but rather an issue of heritage. He even says some of the neighbors were going to join him in his various flag-waving endeavors. It is not yet clear what will become of Baker but, given the nature of the crime, they do not believe he will get more than 6 months in prison if he even faces time behind bars at all but an arraignment has been set. Reports indicate that after the incident, Baker went to the local precinct and confessed to what he had done. Mark Wilson, the father, said that after they initially let Baker walk free, he found himself baffled by this turn of events & hoped that justice would be served. In a recent statement, Wilson was quick to note that he has family all over the south from Kentucky to Richmond.
He also went on to say that he does not concur with those who use the confederate flag to try and commit atrocities against other people but says that he refuses to cower in the face of bullies. It is not yet clear if he has any other plans for pride marches in the future but, based on what he has said so far, it’s a safe bet he’s already hammering out the details for his next one. His 15-year-old son saw the whole thing as the man held a gun to his father’s head. According to his account, he said to Wilson, “your cause isn’t so great now, is it?” Sources indicate they were holding the flags and waving to passing cars on the side of the road. One of the signs they were holding said honk to show your support. Of course, the investigation is still ongoing at the moment but the police do not expect to make any more arrests in connection with the incident at this time.
