HENRY COUNTY – Activist Gene Stilp stood alone last month, burning a two-sided flag at the Talladega Super-Speedway in Alabama. He says the demonstration was to send a message.
"One side is the Confederate flag and the other side is a Nazi flag because basically, they both represent the same kind of values. Values like hate, bigotry, racism, white supremacy and slavery and death," Stilp said.
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But not everyone was happy he was there. People in passing cars yelled, Don't burn that flag. Go back up north."
The Virginia attorney is planning to burn another Confederate-Nazi flag during a NASCAR race in Martinsville Oct. 29, in the public area around the speedway.
"It will be a small demonstration and we'll be where people can see us and where it will not cause any commotion," Stilp said.
Stilp requested a permit from the Henry County Sheriff's Office to hold the demonstration on public land near the Martinsville Speedway.
In an email response, the Sheriff's Office says Stilp is not required to have a permit issued by Henry County for the demonstration.
The Sheriff's Office says there is not ordinance against flag burning but it requests he provide a location and time of the demonstration for safety reasons.
"In 2015, NASCAR put in policy that prevents people from bring Confederate flags to the races. We are doing this because the Confederate flag is like a mobile monument," Stilp said.
Stilp first started burning the two-side flags in trash cans this summer when a Pennsylvania congressman made negative statements after the death of Heather Heyer in Charlottesville.
Stilp says he has no worries if someone doesn't agree with his actions.
"Well it's a free country. They are welcome to peacefully state their objections and that's up to them," Stilp said.
Stilp also burned a flag at a NASCAR event in Dover. Below is a portion of the email Stilp sent to the Henry County Sheriff's Office;
"This will be under the guidance of the First Amendment.
"We are doing small demonstrations at selected NASCAR events such as the NASCAR event at Martinsville Speedway which we believe comes under the Henry County Sheriff's jurisdiction. The small demonstration consists of displaying a small two-sided flag. One side of the flag is the confederate flag commonly know as the confederate battle flag and the other flag is a nazi flag. This combination flag shows that the misguided and horrible values expressed by the confederate flag are similar to the horrible values symbolized by the nazi flag. Those horrible values include racism, hatred, bigotry, slavery, white supremacy, and death.
"After that short explanation of what the combination confederate-nazi flag stands for, the flag is safely burned in a safe metal trash can. And then the demonstration ends. The flames from the burning flag are safely contained in the trash can. It is a small First Amendment demonstration to graphically express the similarity of what both flags stand for.”