Miss. Authorities Probe Death of Black Confederate Flag Supporter

In 2006, Hervey authored “Why I Wave the Confederate Flag, Written by a Black Man”, in which he fully accounts for his reasoning in dedicating his life, which was cut short on Sunday, to this cause.

Hervey was well-known in his hometown of Oxford for wearing a Confederate uniform and supporting the Confederate flag.

Mississippi Highway Patrol and the Lafayette County coroner have confirmed to media that Hervey was killed when the 2005 Ford Explorer left the road and overturned on Mississippi Highway 6. The vehicle’s owner, a passenger in the car, told The AP that Hervey crashed after another vehicle carrying four or five young black men pulled up alongside them, yelling and looking mad. Barnum, of Stuart, Oklahoma, said Hervey yelled something back at the other vehicle before losing control and crashing. He said he dressed in Rebel soldier garb to honour blacks who served with the Confederacy during the Civil War. “This is my heritage”, Hervey said in 2001, as Mississippians voted to retain the disputed flag.

The Mississippi Highway Patrol has yet to comment on Barnum’s claims, noting that there is still an ongoing investigation into the crash.

The Clarion-Ledger reports Hervey and his passenger were on the way home from a Confederate Flag rally.

“I think it’s appalling what took place in South Carolina”, Hervey told the Tribune reporter in 2000.

Trapped in the car, Barnum posted to Facebook for help.

Mississippi’s Clarion-Ledger newspaper said the companion told investigators it appeared they were being chased.

Sparky Reardon, the now-retired dean of students at Ole Miss, recalled Hervey as a familiar and fiery figure on campus. A white reporter for the student-run Daily Mississippian who had been assigned to cover Hervey said the older man punched him in the face during an attempted interview.

“He was a master at street theater”, Reardon said of Hervey. “Let’s work together to Save Our South and our great America!”

“This book is about truth and passion”, the introductory description in Hervey’s book reads.

Hervey made a name for himself as a black advocate for the Confederate flag.