LAWMAKER WANTS CONFEDERATE FLAG REMOVED FROM CAPITOL GROUNDS

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) – A Montgomery lawmaker says the state should remove Confederate flags from the Alabama Capitol grounds.

Rep. Alvin Holmes says he will file a legislative resolution to remove Confederate flags from the Capitol grounds. The flags surround an 88-foot tall Alabama Confederate Monument that was erected in 1898.

Holmes says the flags are offensive and have no place at a public building.

The Alabama Legislature is expected to meet later this summer for a special session on the budget.

Debate over Confederate symbols reignited after the massacre of nine people at a black church in South Carolina. The white suspect, Dylann Storm Roof, appeared in photos holding the banner.

Holmes led a successful fight in the 1990s to remove the Confederate flag from flying atop the Alabama Capitol dome..