Family decides to sit during national anthem because of Confederate flag
A Utah police officer and his family sat out the national anthem at a demolition derby because the spectators were given a Confederate flag to salute.
Daniel Argueta said that he and his family wanted to stand during the anthem but could not bring themselves to do so because of the Confederate flag flying from the white pickup truck, along with the Gadsden “don’t tread on me” flag and two American flags.
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“You kind of get caught in, yes, you want to stand, you support the U.S. flag,” Argueta told KSTU-TV. “You support the troops, you support police officers, but what is the Confederate flag doing there?”
“For anybody that knows history and understands the negative impact of that flag and how it’s been used historically, it’s hard to stand up,” said Argueta.
While Argueta and his family remained seated, other audience members stood through the salute, and Argueta’s wife asked to leave.
“It was humiliating, it was demeaning, because with all the controversy going on with the flag recently and people sitting during the anthem, we had all intended to stand, but we couldn’t,” Argueta said. “People probably looked around, probably wondering what we were doing.”
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Organizer Jim Simko was asked to remove the flag and did so after the controversial incident. A spokeswoman for the city council also issued an apology:
“The City contracts with Stirrin’ Dirt to produce the Demolition Derby,” said Kim Wells. “Apparently one of the drivers added a Confederate flag to the back of a truck that went into the arena for the National Anthem. As soon as city staff saw the flag in the arena, they asked the driver to take it down, which he did, but not before the truck circled the arena. We apologize for the incident and will be talking to the contractor further to determine why the flag was added.”
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