Marines ban public displays of Confederate flag

The U.S. Marines announced Friday that they would be removing all public displays of the Confederate flag.

The move comes after days of protests in cities across America following the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died in Minneapolis police custody on May 25. 

Today, the Marine Corps released guidance on the removal of public displays of the Confederate battle flag.

MARADMIN 331/20: https://t.co/WLW4m70LW1 pic.twitter.com/TKoYJUL7Vo

— U.S. Marines (@USMC) June 6, 2020

“Current events are a stark reminder that it is not enough for us to remove symbols that cause division — rather, we also must strive to eliminate division itself,” the commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. David H. Berger, said in a statement on Wednesday.

Protests in some states have called for the removal of Confederate statues.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) said this week he planned to order the Robert E. Lee statue in Richmond to be removed.

The order issued by the U.S. Marines Friday extends to items such as mugs, posters and bumper stickers.

“The Confederate battle flag has all too often been co-opted by violent extremist and racist groups whose divisive beliefs have no place in our Corps,” the message read.

“The Marine Corps shall remove the Confederate battle flag from all installation public spaces and work areas in order to support our core values, ensure unit cohesion and security, and preserve good order and discipline.”