Some pallet art at an Iowa man’s home is not palatable to his neighbors.
Groups protested outside the Iowa home of a man who displayed artworks of Confederate and Nazi flags outside his Des Moines-area residence, KCCI reported.
William Stark, whose home is adjacent to Morris Elementary School, sparked outrage with his work, the television station reported.
Stark displayed six wooden pallets painted as a "German war flag" with a swastika on it, the Des Moines Register reported. The other pallets included a Confederate flag, a "back the blue" flag supporting law enforcement officers, an American flag and a combination U.S.-Confederate flag, the newspaper reported.
Saturday afternoon, about 30 protesters gathered outside Stark's home, KCCI reported.
“Eliminate your hate speech and eliminate the fact that you are inciting violence,” Bonnie Brown, a protester, said in comments directed toward Stark’s home.
"It gives us a lot of hope even if they just showed up for a few minutes, they saw a problem, and they wanted to be a part of the solution," Heavan Chamberlain, a protester, told KCCI.
Stark told the television station he was not racist, but was dared to display the pallets in his yard by a friend. He calls his work "pallet art," WHO-TV reported.
"People don't know what their history is," Stark told KCCI. "They've turned different things into different things. A swastika could be religious if you knew what a swastika is."
Vandals spray-painted Stark's artwork Wednesday, writing "Nazi scum" on one of the pallets, WHO reported.
Authorities said Stark has the right to display his art, but people have a right to protest, too, KCCI reported.
Stark said protesters who demanded an apology will not get one.
"Well I'm sorry for them people, but go learn your history," Stark told KCCI.
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