The Confederate flag rally at Stone Mountain Park on Saturday included protests, police intervention — and a wedding.
Autumn Brunson Crosswhite and her fiancé Timothy Crosswhite of Marietta married at the rally during a small ceremony of fellow Confederate flag supporters. She said her friends frequents rallies like this, so it only made sense to get married at one.
"We're friends with a lot of people that do the rallies. We decided that we want everybody to be a part of our day, so what better way [than the rally]?" Autumn Crosswhite said. "We've been engaged for a while and he asked about four days ago, 'Do you want to get married on August 1?'"
She was wearing a borrowed blue ribbon in her hair and white flip flops as the couple exchanged rings around 5 p.m. beneath a banner with their photos and a Confederate flag on it.
"To me, [the rebel flag] represents the people who they fought to try and get freedom for everyone," Autumn Crosswhite said. "I don't feel any hate with it at all. Never in my life have I ever been taught that that is what it meant."
Timothy Crosswhite said Stone Mountain was a natural place for him to get married seeing as he was born and raised in Atlanta and is a frequent visitor to the park.
"Because it's part of my tradition and my heritage and I'm going to stick up for the flag," Timothy said of why he decided to get married at the rally. "It's an honor to be here, really."
Editor's note: A previous version of this post incorrectly identified Autumn Crosswhite's son Scott as Timothy Crosswhite's son. Scott is in fact Timothy Crosswhite's stepson. The version also misstated that Autumn Crosswhite's family frequently attends Confederate flag rallies, when in fact her friends frequent the rallies.
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