Lassi said the new flag is “ugly” and caters to “wokeness.”
Detroit Lakes went back and forth on the new flag.
In March, the council voted in support of flying it, but then came backlash from residents and some council members. They voted again in May to not fly it, then in June, in a split vote, decided not to fly either state flag.
Brian Ahlsten, who lives in Detroit Lakes and previously lived in the Twin Cities, said at the June council meeting that the new state flag doesn’t represent rural Minnesota.
“Some have tried to turn this into a left vs. right issue,” he said. “This is more of a Twin Cities vs. greater Minnesota issue. … This flag serves to drive a wedge between us. It’s a Twin Cities flag. It’s not a greater Minnesota flag.”
Wendy Spry, who serves on the council and is an enrolled member of White Earth Nation, said the flag was changed for a reason.