William Stark, whose home is adjacent to Morris Elementary School, sparked outrage with his work, the television station reported.
Stark displayed six wooden pallets painted as a "German war flag" with a swastika on it, the Des Moines Register reported. The other pallets included a Confederate flag, a "back the blue" flag supporting law enforcement officers, an American flag and a combination U.S.-Confederate flag, the newspaper reported.
Saturday afternoon, about 30 protesters gathered outside Stark's home, KCCI reported.
William Stark placed one painting of a Nazi flag and several more depicting Confederate flags on his front lawn, which is next door to a school. https://t.co/YmAIgu4f9l
— KCRG (@KCRG) December 11, 2019
“Eliminate your hate speech and eliminate the fact that you are inciting violence,” Bonnie Brown, a protester, said in comments directed toward Stark’s home.
"It gives us a lot of hope even if they just showed up for a few minutes, they saw a problem, and they wanted to be a part of the solution," Heavan Chamberlain, a protester, told KCCI.
Stark told the television station he was not racist, but was dared to display the pallets in his yard by a friend. He calls his work "pallet art," WHO-TV reported.
"People don't know what their history is," Stark told KCCI. "They've turned different things into different things. A swastika could be religious if you knew what a swastika is."
William Stark, who lives next door to a school where 60% of the students are not white, says the Nazi and Confederate symbols he's plastered outside his house are not racist. https://t.co/vCVs4PYqye pic.twitter.com/qATgxHpRXc
— FOX 32 News (@fox32news) December 15, 2019
Vandals spray-painted Stark's artwork Wednesday, writing "Nazi scum" on one of the pallets, WHO reported.
Authorities said Stark has the right to display his art, but people have a right to protest, too, KCCI reported.
Stark said protesters who demanded an apology will not get one.
"Well I'm sorry for them people, but go learn your history," Stark told KCCI.
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