Free Republic

PICKENS, SC (FOX Carolina) - An Upstate sheriff said in a Facebook post on Friday that he would not lower his flag for Nelson Mandela, even after an executive order from the president. Pickens County Sheriff Rick Clark said in the post that he refused to lower the flag to half-staff after the death of the former South African president, who died on Thursday. Clark continued to say in the Facebook post that it should be lowered at the United States embassy in South Africa. Clark said in the post, "Nelson Mandela did great things for his country and was...

The American flag that flies over the Pickens County Sheriff's Office will be raised high tonight despite an order by President Barack Obama that flags across the country be lowered to half-staff to honor the death of iconic South African leader Nelson Mandela. Sheriff Rick Clark told The Greenville News that he has ordered the flag be raised at the end of today because he said the honor of lowering flags to half-staff should be reserved for Americans. "The flag at half-staff is for Americans' ultimate sacrifice for our country," Clark said. "We should never stray away from that." The...