Governor Says No Flag Special Session

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – A spokesman says Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant won’t call legislators back to the Capitol to consider removing the Confederate battle emblem from the state flag.

The Legislative Black Caucus says Bryant should set a special session because white supremacists marched with the battle flag last weekend in Virginia. Mississippi has the last state flag featuring the Confederate battle emblem – a red field with a blue tilted cross topped with white stars. The Black Caucus chairwoman, Democratic Rep. Sonya Williams Barnes of Gulfport, says the “square of hatred” needs to disappear from the Mississippi flag. Bryant spokesman Knox Graham said Wednesday the governor still believes voters should decide the flag design.