Man Bombs Local Walmart Because They Stopped Selling Confederate Flags

Man Bombs Local Walmart Because They Stopped Selling Confederate Flags

A Mississippi man known for flying a 4-foot-long Confederate state flag on his car has been accused of bombing a local Walmart because the chain stopped selling the flag, says the police chief according to CBS News:

The explosive made a loud bang but did no damage when it was thrown early Sunday into the 24-hour Walmart in Tupelo, Police Chief Bart Aguirre said Monday. He said bomb technicians reported that the package held enough explosive to damage the store if it had been assembled differently.

Marshall E. Leonard of Tupelo, a northeast Mississippi city of 34,500, was jailed on a charge of detonating an explosive, and police were searching his car and home, Aguirre said.

Walmart is among retailers that stopped selling merchandise bearing reproductions of the Confederate battle flag – which makes up the upper left section of the Mississippi state flag – after the June 17 killing of nine black worshippers at a church in Charleston, South Carolina.

Some Mississippi cities and institutions also have stopped flying the state flag.

“He’s a strong supporter of keeping that flag flying. … This is his way of bringing attention to that,” Aguirre said.

Leonard did not yet have an attorney who could comment Monday, Aguirre said. His bond hearing probably will be held Tuesday, and the judge will appoint an attorney if Leonard, who lives alone and has no job, cannot afford one, the police chief said.

Aguirre says Leonard allegedly lit a newspaper-wrapped package and threw it into the store around 1:30 a.m. Sunday.

Is it really that serious, breh???