SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — Authorities say five people were caught on surveillance video draping Confederate flags on lawn jockeys at an upstate New York horse racing museum at 2 a.m. Tuesday.
Police say the flags covered more than a dozen lawn jockeys at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, New York. None of the jockeys were damaged in what turned out to be a protest and the flags were removed by Museum staff that morning.
The people who claim to have placed the Confederate flags told news outlets they were protesting the pale-skinned jockeys which were symbols of slavery.
They told WNYT-TV by email that the statues should be removed as they are not historically accurate and themuseum authorities to include black jockeys for this exhibit.
The museum says that the statues represent historic racing stables and do not carry racial overtones.
