AUGUSTA - An Augusta State University student has been accused of burning an old Georgia flag that was flying in a yard near the university campus. <br>
<br>
Brandon J. Emert, 21, was charged Thursday with third-degree arson, a felony, Richmond County Sheriff's Sgt. Jimmy Vowell said. <br>
<br>
Emert told police that he opposes the Confederate emblem on the flag, Vowell said. He was being held in lieu of $3,050 bond. <br>
<br>
Patricia Miller said she and her husband, Carl, were at their jobs at the time of the fire, which burned a section of grass measuring 25 feet by 25 feet. Witnesses who didn't chase the suspect put the fire out, she said. <br>
<br>
The Legislature changed the flag last year because of opposition to the Confederate emblem, which was reduced in size on the new flag and displayed along with examples of other flags that have flown over Georgia <br>
<br>
Mrs. Miller said she and her husband have been harassed for months for posting a sign supporting the old flag and calling for a statewide vote on the issue. The sign has been stolen several times. <br>
<br>
Miller recently fixed his flag pole and began flying the flag in the yard, she said, adding that they have replaced the burned banner.
