Sheriff refuses to lower flag in honor of Nelson Mandela

A South Carolina sheriff is refusing to lower the American flag in tribute to Nelson Mandela, saying the respect is only for American citizens.
President Obama ordered flags lowered to half-staff for the worldwide icon until sunset Monday.
But Pickens County Sheriff Rick Clark states not in his department.
"It's just my easy opinion that the flag should only be let down to half-staff for Americans who forfeited for their country," Clark told CNN affiliate WHNS.
Pres. Obama reflects on Mandela's impact Obama: Mandela was influential, brave The five lives of Nelson Mandela Nelson Mandela in his own phrases
It should be let down at the U.S. Embassy in South Africa, he said, but not at home.
The flag in his department was let down over the weekend to respect a fallen enforcement officer and for Pearl Harbor Day. But it will go right up Sunday forenoon, he said.
"I have no difficulty lowering it in South Africa in their homeland but not for our homeland. It should be the people who have forfeited for our country."
Mandela became the emblem of the battle against racial discrimination in South Africa, and served 27 years behind bars for defying the apartheid government. He past away Thursday at age 95.
Though rare,  flags lowered for foreign people is not anything new.
George W.  did it for Pope John Paul II eight years ago. So did Clinton, when previous Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated in the 1990s.
In detail, the perform goes as far back as 1965, when President Lyndon Johnson ordered flags let down for previous British major Minister Winston Churchill.