A video showing a Tampa-area man swiping a Confederate flag off of a local house has gone viral.
According to NBC affiliate WFLA, the video was shot on Saturday and shows the unidentified man jump out the passenger seat of a car and run toward the house, yanking down the flag. The driver records cell phone video from the car, and is heard cheering on his passenger saying "no flagging, man, no flagging!"
The man then runs back to the car, stolen Confederate flag in hand, and the two drive off.
Since it was posted to Facebook, the video has been viewed more than 4.5 million times and shared more than 65,000 times.
The homeowner noticed the following day that the flag was missing, but didn't report it until seeing the video on Facebook.
The Manatee County Sheriff’s office says the suspect would be charged with petit theft. They are asking anyone with information to contact Manatee County Crime Stoppers at (866) 634-TIPS.
Similar incidents of thefts of Confederate flags have occurred nationwide in recent weeks, many posted under the hashtag #NoFlagginChallenge. In a series of videos posted to social media, people are seen stealing Confederate flags - even from private property - then running off.
The challenge comes on the heels of activist Bree Newsome who scaled the flagpole of the South Carolina Capitol on June 27th and unhooked the Confederate flag.
Newsome, along with a man inside the fence who was assisting her, was arrested and charged with defacing a monument.
The incidents follow widespread calls for the Confederate flag's removal after the massacre of nine black people at a Charleston, South Carolina church by a white gunman.
