JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Many people in San Marco are expressing outrage on social media after an unidentified man reportedly displayed a large flag containing a swastika on the back of a pickup truck.
According to witnesses, it went on for a few hours on Christmas Eve, and at one point, the flag was displayed as people were walking out of a church.
“It stunned me. It shocked me,” said Cory Lek, who was with her 11-year-old son.
Nick Wrubluski said he was on Hendricks Avenue when he saw the truck.
“It was awful. There is no place for that at all,” Wrubluski said.
It was in the early evening when Christmas Eve services at Aspire Church had just ended and people were walking out the building when they saw the truck.
Jacksonville City Councilman Matt Carlucci was there.
“The swastika on the flag really took me aback,” Carlucci said. “It symbolizes fear. It symbolizes hatred. It symbolizes violence. It symbolized discrimination. It epitomizes everything that is bad in this world.”
Aspire Church Pastor Dr. Gary Lee Webber issued a statement that reads in part:
“I was saddened to hear that as people left our Christmas Eve celebration, they were confronted with a public display of hate and division, but it was a stark reminder of how much the world needs the true message of Christmas.”
News4JAX has requested photos of the display from witnesses, but no one had a photo they could share.