Kennesaw residents persist in call to shut down controversial Civil War store
Residents persist in call for Civil War shop shutdown
From the outside of Wildman's Civil War Surplus, to the content found within its store walls, some residents call it blatant racism that must stop. A group of Kennesaw residents spoke out against Wildman's Civil War Surplus at a Monday night city council meeting.
KENNESAW, Ga. - A longtime, controversial confederate memorabilia store is once again under fire.
A group of Kennesaw residents spoke out against Wildman's Civil War Surplus at a Monday night city council meeting.
From the outside of Wildman's Civil War Surplus, to the content found within its store walls, some residents call it blatant racism that must stop.
"There are a lot of ordinances they don't conform to, flag ordinances, safety codes they don't conform to. You're not supposed to cover more than 30% of the window," said Mary Miller, a Kennesaw resident.
"The hate in that store is incredible, the torture of children in that store, the representation of that in the store, the lynching memorabilia, the laughter about torturing people-- c'mon now," said Virginia Haines, who attended Monday's meeting. "Who wants to be around that?"
Wildman's first opened in downtown Kennesaw in 1971. Inside is packed with hundreds of confederate flags stuffed in between KKK materials and collectibles that many would consider racist.
"We have to do something and if we don't stand against hatred, and that's exactly what that is-then what are we telling our children? What are we telling my grandson who is 21-years old, what this country and what this city represents," said resident Cassandra Alexander-Green.
The store's longtime owner, Dent Myers, died earlier this year. In June, city officials told FOX 5 that Myers' friend, Marjorie Lyon, went through all the proper channels and inspections to get a business license and reopen the store.
"It's a complex issue, but they've chosen to support the store and not the people," Miller said.
After the public comment portion of the meeting, city officials did not address any of the residents. We reached out to officials for comment and have not heard back.