http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2015/1 ... evice.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;Man accused of setting off explosive to protest Wal-Mart removing Confederate merchandise
A man was arrested after allegedly detonating an explosive device inside a Tupelo, Mississippi, Wal-Mart early Sunday morning.
Officers were called to the store Sunday around 2 a.m., the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reported, where an explosive device had reportedly detonated. After they arrived, they arrested 61-year-old Marshall Leonard, a Tupelo resident. No one was injured in the incident.
The newspaper reports that Leonard has spoken out against Wal-Mart in the past after the store chose to stop selling items containing the Confederate battle flag emblem.
In comment threads on the Daily Journal website, a commenter named Marshall Leonard has posted often about his support for the Confederate flag. He blamed Mississippi media outlets and retail stores, including Wal-Mart, for the recent actions to remove the Confederate battle flag emblem from the public eye.
"But since Wal-Mart started this whole mess, Their (sic) my first target," the commenter wrote in a comment last month.
The commenter also posted a photo of what appears to be multiple Confederate flags flying from a long pole on his vehicle, and a written account of his protesting outside the store about a month ago.
Last week, Leonard also posted threats to the Daily Journal Facebook page, according to the newspaper.
"Journal corporate, you are on final warning," he wrote last Wednesday. "You are part of the problem. As a result of this, y'all are going down, along with Walmart, WTVA, Reeds department store and all the rest of the anti-American crooks. I'm not kidding. No messing around anymore!"
