Mayor Robert T. Keeton III posted a picture of the lowered flag and wrote on Facebook:
“The Town of Bruceton grieves for our Republic and our loss of freedoms. We mourn the victims of the Chinese plague and those that have suffered its depredations. We pray that God delivers and restores us and that we do not fall to the clutches of communism.”
Mayor Keeton further elaborated on his decision to the Jackson Sun newspaper, saying:
“it was just a commentary and prayer for our country.I’m an attorney, and I’m seeing our constitutional rights being trampled on virtually every day, and I’m concerned for our republic, even though I’ve lost people that I know to this Chinese virus.”
Keeton also tells the Sun that he’s really concerned about big tech deplatforming Trump while going after other conservative voices and outlets.
The flag has since been raised back up.