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ATLANTA (AP) — The latest on the investigation into Confederate flags found at the Ebenezer Baptist Church near the Martin Luther King Jr. Center in Atlanta:
11:05 a.m.
Atlanta's police chief says officials have seen on surveillance video the images of two white males who placed Confederate battle flags on the grounds of the Ebenezer Baptist Church near the Martin Luther King Jr. Center in Atlanta.
Chief George Turner said Thursday at a news conference: "We do have images of two white males placing those flags on the campus." He said he doesn't know their ages, and he didn't give other details.
Turner says the video will be released soon.
Turner called the placing of the flags disgusting but not surprising. He said: "We've seen this kind of ugliness before." Officials say Confederate flags have been placed on the center's campus before, including at King's tomb.
Turner says Atlanta police are working with federal officials to find the men. He says authorities have "good, strong physical evidence."
Police say a maintenance worker discovered the flags at 6 a.m. Thursday and notified the National Park Service, which operates the King Center.
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10:09 a.m.
Federal authorities and police are investigating after four Confederate battle flags were found on the grounds of the Ebenezer Baptist Church near the Martin Luther King Jr. Center in Atlanta.
Officer Gary Wade says a maintenance worker discovered the flags at 6 a.m. Thursday and notified the National Park Service, which operates the nearby King Center. Wade says no one saw who placed the flags, which weren't stuck in the ground but instead set neatly on top of it. He says there's at least one security camera for the area. Authorities are reviewing footage.
Wade says a security guard saw a suspicious vehicle across the street from the church Wednesday night, but it wasn't clear whether that was related.
King once preached at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, which is near the new church where the congregation now meets and where the flags were placed.
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