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BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Mississippi's flag, and the Confederate symbols embedded within it, has come down outside Boise's City Hall.
Workers took down the flag Wednesday after Boise Mayor David Bieter pushed to have the symbol removed from City Hall's 50-state display following the South Carolina church massacre and ensuing debate over the Confederate flag being flown at the capitol there.
A Boise official said there are currently no plans to return Mississippi's flag to the display.
"What it represents is not what we stand for as a city government and what we believe our residents stand for," city spokesman Mike Journee said. "This flag has been out there for many years. The connotation and the understanding of the connotation has changed, especially with recent events."
In South Carolina, 21-year-old Dylann Storm Roof, is accused of shooting and killing nine people during a Bible study in a historic African-American church in Charleston. The suspect held the Confederate flag in a photograph on a website and displayed the flags of defeated white-supremacist governments in Africa on his Facebook page.
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has called for removing the Confederate battle flag that flies in front of her state's Capitol.
"Boise has a really strong reputation as a welcoming city," Journee said. "As a city that embraces diversity and embraces the immigrant founders of this city and also its existing immigrants."
Bennett Chadwick, a Boise resident, said the Mississippi flag should remain in front of City Hall.
"I know that the Confederate symbol is a little outdated nowadays," he said. "But the flag is a symbol of the state's culture and shows that the state has had some history."
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