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Rebel Flag Proponent Found Dead

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TBO.com

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 9, 2008

A former political candidate and civic activist who defended the flying of a Confederate flag over one of Tampa's gateways died in what appeared to be a suicide, police said.

Bart Siegel was found dead of a gunshot wound about 1:10 p.m. Thursday outside his Temple Terrace home, said Temple Terrace police spokesman Mike Dunn.

Siegel's death appeared to be a suicide, Dunn said. The Hillsborough County Medical Examiner's Office is conducting an autopsy.

Siegel was a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, a group that stirred controversy in May and June by flying the 50-by-30-foot Rebel flag atop a 139-foot pole within view of interstates 4 and 75. The flag is part of a Confederate memorial on private property.

Siegel appeared at a Hillsborough County Commission meeting on the flag issue June 4 to deliver a debate challenge to people who view the banner as a symbol of hate. "I personally think they are wrong," he said then, "and they owe the South an apology."

Siegel received 40 percent of the Hillsborough County vote in 2000 when he ran unsuccessfully for circuit court clerk against Democrat Richard Ake. He highlighted his credentials as an auditor who had worked in the Pinellas County Clerk of the Circuit Court's Office.

Siegel also was a critic of the Temple Terrace City Council, which was a target of his electronic newsletter, The Pig Report.

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