Mississippi gov: I'd sign bill to remove flag's rebel emblem

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi lawmakers could vote in the next few days to remove the Confederate battle emblem from the state flag, a symbol that has come under intensifying criticism in recent weeks amid nationwide protests against racial injustice.

Republican Gov. Tate Reeves said Saturday, for the first time, that he would sign a bill to change the flag if the Legislature passes one. He had previously said that he would not veto one — a more passive stance.

“The legislature has been deadlocked for days as it considers a new state flag,” Reeves said on social media. “The argument over the 1894 flag has become as divisive as the flag itself and it's time to end it. If they send me a bill this weekend, I will sign it.""

Mississippi's annual legislative session is almost over, and it takes a two-thirds majority of the House and Senate to consider a bill after the normal deadlines have passed. Leaders have been working to secure those majorities.

There's a two-step process. First, legislators must suspend the deadline with two-thirds majorities. Then, they must take a separate vote on a flag bill, with only a simple majority needed to pass it and send it to the governor. The process could happen in a single day, or it could stretch into two or more days.

People for and against the current flag gathered at the state Capitol on Saturday morning as lawmakers arrived.

Karen Holt of Edwards, Mississippi, was with several people asking lawmakers to adopt a new banner with a magnolia, which is both the state tree and the state flower, and with stars to represent Mississippi as the 20th state. She said it would represent “joy of being a citizen of the United States,” unlike the current flag.

“We don't want anything flying over them, lofty, exalting itself,...