GREENVILLE, N.C. (WITN) – Camping World’s controversial American flag is flying once again above their Greenville location.
Steve Elks says he was shocked when the flag was nowhere to be seen Wednesday morning.
“It’s another strike against us,” Elks says.
Camping World General Manager Jim Foskey says the only reason the flag came down was because it couldn’t be flown at half-staff in honor of Pope Francis’ death due to its size, and there was a tear in the original.
It was promptly replaced with a new flag after he received a call from CEO Marcus Lemonis.
“He was upset because the flag came down, but it’s not down,” Foskey says. “We didn’t take it down for any reason. We took it down because it had a tear in it. We identified that. It’ll be back up within the next hour or hour and a half.”
By around one Wednesday afternoon, the massive flag was flapping over its location at the corner of Red Banks and Evans Street.
Employees say they kept it at quarter-staff as an effort to still honor the pope and abide by safety regulations.
“It needs to be there. I mean, it’s the American flag,” Elks says.
The flag is almost 15 times bigger than what current regulations allow on non-residential properties, standing at 130 feet tall, with a size of 3,200 square feet.
Wednesday morning, a spokesperson for the city said they have yet to file suit against the business for violating zoning regulations.
So far, Camping World has been issued 65 citations by the city, with fines totaling over 15 thousand dollars.
But Foskey’s message for Camping World is clear: the flag is not coming down, again, that is.
“The flag is going to continue to fly. We’re representing freedom of our country, so that’s what it’s all about.”
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