From Tribune staff reports
MONTGOMERY –Alabama governor Robert Bentley ordered the Confederate flags removed from Confederate Memorial Monument next to the state capitol on Wednesday.
“I have taxes to raise, we have work to do,” Bentley told The Birmingham News. “And it was my decision that the flag needed to come down”
Bentley told the newspaper that he wanted to avoid distractions and removing the flag was “the right thing” to do.
Confederate Memorial Monument, Montgomery, Ala. Photo via Wikipedia
Bentley told multiple media sources that the decision did not require legislative approval.
The Confederate flag had once flown over the capitol dome, but was removed in 1993 by former governor Jim Folsom, Jr.
Later Wednesday, speaker of the house Mike Hubbard requested that the Confederate flag be removed from the Old House Chamber, according to the Opelika-Auburn News.
“Earlier today I asked the clerk of the house to remove the Confederate battle flag from the Old House Chamber in the Capitol Building,” Hubbard said.
Hubbard, like Bentley, cited the upcoming special session of the legislature and his desire to remove the potential distraction.
