PRESS RELEASE July 18, 2017
For Immediate Release Media Contact: David McCallister 813-778-1202 Email: floridasshe@gmail.com
SOUTHERN HERITAGE AND VETERANS GROUP REJECT VICTOR CRIST'S "COMPROMISE" ON MOVING VETERANS MEMORIAL
Tampa - Southern Heritage and veterans groups have unanimously rejected a proposal by Commissioner Victor Crist to move the downtown Tampa Confederate memorial to an undisclosed graveyard. The United Daughters of the Confederacy, Save Their Honor and a host of other local veterans groups have sent Commission Chairman Stacy White their objection in writing to move the memorial to any location. "This is a united front and our position is clear," stated David McCallister, Chairman of the Save Their Honor veterans coalition. "This half-baked idea from Crist has no support from either side of this issue and should be rejected by the Board. We are asking the four commissioners who courageously voted to keep the memorial where it is to hold the line and change their positions in light of radical protests and out of town sports team millionaires who wish to capitulate to the Black Lives Matter group." "The Hillsborough County organizations are solid and will hold accountable any politician who changes their vote for political expediency." McCallister concluded. The County Commission is set to hear, yet again, a motion by Commissioner Les Miller to move the memorial to some undesignated location in the future. At the last meeting, his motion was rejected on a 4-3 vote by the Commission. Also being proposed is Memorial Protection Ordinance that reportedly has a solid majority of the Commission in favor of the proposal which shall be heard in August. The Save Southern Heritage Florida group has been leading the fight to keep the memorial where it is and to pass the memorial protection act. This week, Commissioners have reportedly received an unprecedented amount of input from Hillsborough voters who overwhelming favor leaving the monument where it is and indicated in a recent poll that they would take a dim view of any politicians that flip-flop on this issue. "In the next elections, there will be a day of reckoning where we hold these elected officials accountable," stated Andy Strickland, leader of the new Veterans Memorial protection organization, Veterans Monuments of America, Inc.
SAVE SOUTHERN HERITAGE Inc. is a 501 c(4) public welfare corporation that educates & advocates on behalf of Southern Heritage & History. It was started in 2015 in response to the knee-jerk Anti-Southern institutionalized bullying and “Erase-ism” levied against the people of South Carolina by Governor Nikki Haley, after she broke all previous agreements about how South Carolina’s historical veterans and their symbols should be treated and respected. The Florida branch was activated in mid-January 2016, in response to three initiatives in the Florida Legislature that are part of a hate campaign led by Anti-American extremists, who refuse to respect the various cultures that make up the fabric of Florida’s society. Since that time, it has grown in membership and has been active in Heritage battles throughout Florida including the “W'ell Remember in November Campaign” that resulted in #heritagehater candidates to loose elections in Florida. More info: www.sshfl.org.
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