Confederate-Flag Sympathizer Tries to Bomb Mississippi Walmart for Being ‘Anti-American’

Photo: Lee County Jail

This past Monday in Tupelo, Mississippi, Marshall Leonard, 61, lit a shoddy, newspaper-wrapped bomb and tossed it out the window of his idling silver Mazda to protest the company’s “anti-American” decision to no longer sell the Confederate flag. The man forewarned an employee nearby, telling him to run, before he sped off in his vehicle adorned with Confederacy-themed stickers, replete with a flexible flagpole proudly flying the state flag, which is garnished with a tiny “stars and bars” in the upper left-hand corner. 

No real damage and no injuries were reported. However, this didn’t stop Leonard from cruising the town in his Confederacy-themed car, bragging to local shop owners about his act of protest. He was picked up by police, roughly a half-hour after his attempt at infamy, for running a red light — in front of the Walmart. 

Tupelo police chief Bart Aguirre told the Associated Press the bomb had the capability to inflict serious damage or injury, but Leonard failed to assemble it properly. Leonard, who is jobless and unable to afford an attorney, faces a maximum sentence of life for planting a weapon of mass destruction. He’d previously posted threats on social media, explaining on Facebook that Walmart had upset him for ceasing sales of flag-related merchandise after the Charleston church murders this past summer.

Confederate vs. Walmart