Confederate Flag, Nazi Memorabilia Sold At Flea Market: Shopper Calls Police


Confederate flag and Nazi memorabilia prompted a phone call to police at a Wallingford, Connecticut flea market.

The call came from a Jewish person, who wished to not be identified, by WTNH.

“I was shaking and almost vomiting,” he said. “I had to run. My grandmother had numbers.” (By “numbers,” the man was referring to the Nazi’s system for tattooing Jewish prisoners.)

When police responded to the scene at the Redwood Flea Market, they observed the Confederate flag and Nazi merchandise, but were unable to do anything “because it was on private property,” they said.

“There was a table set up with this material,” said Chief William Wright. “It’s not criminally illegal, but obviously it offended this person. It causes some people a sense of being uncomfortable. Certainly the owner could preclude this merchandise.”

Flea market co-owner Ken Dubar downplayed the amount of Confederate flag and Nazi memorabilia at the market, but did note that there “may be some of those items, some collectibles and some might be counterfeit.”

The American Mirror, a conservative blog, noted that the anonymous complainant had actually called 911 to report the merchandise being sold, though there is no mention of that fact made in the WTNH coverage, nor that of My Record Journal, both of which the Mirror piece links to.

(That isn’t to say the Mirror gets it wrong, just that it’s possible the complainant called a non-emergency number to report the merchandise. Details on where the 911 part of the story comes from were not divulged.)

In comments to MRJ, William Moore, a co-owner of the flea market, shared his thoughts.

“It’s here and you’re likely to see it. If you want, we’ll talk to you about it and give you the history about it.”

Moore also said that while he supports and sympathizes with the offended shopper, “This is America, you can buy and sell whatever you care to.”

Jason Teal of the NAACP, Meriden-Wallingford chapter, said it was a difficult situation because “it’s on private property and it’s considered free speech.”

The complainant also contacted the town’s mayor, William W. Dickinson Jr., who issued these comments.

“I had to check with the chief over what is actionable and what isn’t. Unless something violates state or federal law, there’s no jurisdiction for government to do anything. We had to ask, is it something controlled by law?”

What do you think, readers? Should the sale of Confederate flag and Nazi memorabilia be banned? Sound off in the comments section.

[Image via WTNH, linked above]

Share this article: Confederate Flag, Nazi Memorabilia Sold At Flea Market: Shopper Calls Police
More from Inquisitr