Black Mississippi flag supporter dies in auto crash after argument

His reasoning? To honor and raise awareness about the black soldiers who served in the Confederate army during the Civil War.

Anthony Hervey, a 49-year-old African-American man well-known in Oxford, Mississippi for his flamboyant pro-Confederacy advocacy, was killed in a vehicle crash Sunday afternoon.

Mississippi Highway Patrol spokesman Johnny Poulos said to Therese Apel of the Clarion-Ledger the accident took place near the Pontotoc County line around 11:20 a.m. and that the two were traveling west in a 2005 Ford Explorer when it left the road, then the driver overcorrected, and it flipped.

Barnum told the Associated Press that Hervey swerved and crashed after another auto filled with four or five young black men began chasing them – she said Hervey was driving her SUV, which was not displaying any Confederate flags or stickers.

Shortly after the crash, Barnum was able to post pleas for help to Facebook. “My vehicle inside down”. At some point, that’s what she said caused the crash.

Hervey, 49, and passenger Arlene Barnum, were on their way back to Oxford, Miss., after attending the “Monumental Dixie” rally in Birmingham, Ala., in support of the Confederate flag.

She said she gave that account to a Mississippi state trooper when she was taken to a hospital after the accident.

The Mississippi Highway Patrol did not immediately respond to an Associated Press query asking if officials are investigating Barnum’s account.

Yesterday, a fatal vehicle wreck occurred on Highway 6 that reportedly took the life of Anthony Hervey, a longtime Oxford figure known for showcasing his pro-Confederate signs on the Square and on Jackson Avenue.

. The article quotes attorney Ginger Barbee, who represents the rally’s sponsor, as saying, “I want the Birmingham Parks and Recreations board to know that they are ultimately responsible for this tragedy”. She said the men looked mad and were yelling.

“[Defending the Confederate flag] is not racism”, Hervey said in 2001 interview reported by Daily Mail.