VALDOSTA — Valdosta State University held a peaceful Flags Over VSU rally today. An estimated 700 people lined Patterson Street in support of the American flag.

Valdosta Police Department Chief Brian Childress spoke before the rally.

“I’m here with you, I am a veteran of the United States, I did 23 years in the Air Force,” Chief Childress said. “We have over 100 police officers that are there just to protect you, to support you, nobody is going to interfere with anything, we are here to protect you.”

Many people and groups attended the rally including motorcyclists, veterans, students, police, and supporters of the American flag.

“It ain’t a protest, this is a rally to support that flag,” Chief Childress said. “In my opinion this is a chance for Valdosta and Lowndes County to show the rest of the country we don’t have to be like Ferguson, we don’t have to be like the rest of the country, we can show our pride and do it with respect to this country and each other.”

Michelle Manhart, the veteran who took the flag from protestors last Friday spoke to many people while walking through the crowd, thanking them for their attendance. 

When asked how she felt about the number of attendees, Manhart said, “Even if it was 20 people it would have started something and that’s what we were hoping for.”

“There is a difference between showing your love for the flag and desicrating it. It is time that legislation needs to make an identification, that yes, taking a picture with the American flag is fantastic, having it over seas is fantastic, but spitting on it, urinating on it, and standing on it and burning it is just not acceptable,” Manhart said.