Man who displayed Nazi Swastika at car boot sale says he thought it was 'still in use by German armed forces'
North Wales Police spoke to Anthony Williams after the offending flag was put on sale for £4
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A car boot salesman who displayed a German Nazi-era flag has claimed he didn’t know the Swastika on it was no longer in use by the country's armed forces.
Antony Williams was spoken to by police after trying to sell the large red flag with the offending symbol at his stall at the Bryn y Gog sale in Wrexham.
But the 56-year-old insisted that he had not intended to cause offence, telling the Daily Post that he had displayed the flag “in support of Manchester” after last week's terrorist attack which killed 22 people and injured dozens more.
Intending to sell the flag for £4, he had displayed it alongside a US confederate flag - considered by some to be symbol of slavery and racism.
Mr Williams said the Nazi flag was owned by his friend and that several browsers had expressed an interest in buying it, including a couple who he believed to be German.
“I was told it was the German navy, which as far as I could see were not involved in the same way the SS were in the Second World War," he said. “I saw that it had the Swastika on it. But I don’t know if it’s not still used today.
"I might be a bit of an idiot for not looking it up properly, but I won’t make that mistake again.”
He added that he had owned the Confederate flag for more than 35 years and that he had used it in civil war reenactments.
“I was asked the once to take it down. I did not refuse to take it down. It was late on in the day," he said. "The flag had been up since six in the morning. Muslims and whoever else had walked past and never said anything about it.”
He added that the flag has since been thrown away by his friend.
North Wales Police said that an “out of court resolution” would be sought between Mr Williams and the car boot sale organisers.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments