SUFFOLK, Va. - It has been a year since Suffolk resident Kevin Collier was ordered to surrender his Sons of Confederate Veterans license plate.
On October 4, 2015, it became illegal to drive with a license plate bearing the confederate flag.
“I am not taking it off and I won’t take it off,” said Collier.
Virginia lawmakers ruled to have the confederate flag emblem removed from the specialty license plate. Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe said, “It was the right thing for Virginia and now we can move ahead.”
“It wasn’t about hate, it was a battle flag, a battle flag that we fought for," Collier said. "It had nothing to do with hate, and nothing to do with racism.”
The DMV mailed out 1,600 newly designed plates to people like Collier. But Collier said he has no interest in a new license plate.
Now, a year later he continues to drive around with his SCV license plate.
“I was born a 150 years too late because I would have loved to have fought for the Confederacy like my ancestors did, but at least I can fight how I can in modern times. I will fight however I can," said Collier.
While he fights for what he says is his heritage, he runs the risk of getting in trouble with the law.
It's a class 2 misdemeanor to drive around with a vehicle with a canceled license plate.
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