BATON ROUGE, La. — The Sons of Confederate Veterans in Louisiana claim a city mayor trampled on their rights by barring them from displaying Confederate battle flags while marching in a Christmas parade last year.
The group's Louisiana division sued the city of Natchitoches and Mayor Lee Posey on Thursday, asking a federal court to declare the mayor's policy unconstitutional.
Thomas Taylor, the division's former commander, says its flag-carrying members marched and rode floats in the parade for nearly two decades without causing any disruptions.
Posey didn't immediately return a call for comment Friday.
Many communities have distanced themselves from Confederate symbols since the June 2015 massacre of nine black worshippers at a church in Charleston, South Carolina. The man accused in that case had posed with the Confederate battle flag for online photos.