| Activist Banned from Statehouse Grounds |
| Columbia-AP)The state Court of Appeals says
that a man, who was convicted of burning a Confederate flag flying
in front of the Statehouse, cannot enter the capitol
grounds. Emmett Rufus Eddy was barred from the grounds after pleading guilty to defacing a public monument. Eddy has called himself the Reverend EX Slave. He climbed a ladder while wearing a black Santa Claus suit and set the flag on fire in April 2002. Judge James C. Williams suspended Eddy's two-year prison sentence to two years of probation on the condition Eddy stay away from Statehouse grounds while on probation. The appeals court says security officers requested the restriction because Eddy previously had handcuffed himself to a monument on the grounds. The court said today the requirement does not prevent Eddy from protesting outside the Statehouse grounds just like any other person and is therefore not an unreasonable restriction. |