NC shopkeeper offered chocolate for burning a Confederate flag. He got death threats.

HILLSBOROUGH -- A local chocolate maker’s response to Confederate flag bearers has police and town leaders concerned about a greater risk for violence.

“These things do create a lot of concern, because they can spiral out of control so quickly,” Hillsborough Police Chief Duane Hampton said Monday. The department wants to balance public safety with constitutionally protected free speech, he said.

Hillsborough Mayor Tom Stevens, while noting “the Confederate flag has been used for over a century to intimidate and oppress persons of color,” agreed.

“Certainly, given the tragedies that we’ve seen in this country just in the last 24 hours, we don’t want something like that to erupt,” Stevens said. “The town, we’re trying to what we can to keep the peace and keep people safe.”

A handful of people carrying flags have targeted Hillsborough for a few years in large part because of steps taken to limit Confederate flags and symbols in the county and towns, and a ban against divisive symbols like the Confederate battle flag in the Orange County Schools dress code. While it’s not a group-sanctioned event, some of the flag bearers are affiliated with the pro-Confederate group Alamance County Taking Back Alamance County.

Read more: https://www.thestate.com/news/state/south-carolina/article233542097.html