PHILADELPHIA _ Bloomsburg Fair officials removed a vendor selling Nazi flags from the concessions area Monday after complaints, saying the swastika crossed the line and they wanted to avoid any disturbances.
A photo of the flag, hanging alongside a banner supporting Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, sparked outrage on social media.
"I honestly believe I was set up for a fall," said vendor Lawrence Betsinger, when reached by phone.
Betsinger said the flags are displayed together on bungee cords. He believes a customer flipped the flags over until the Nazi and Trump flags were both visible.
"I am going to vote for Trump, for God's sake," he said. "If anything I would have put it on the Hillary side."
He has been a selling flags at fairs for about 45 years and has about 130 in his current inventory including political flags, nationality flags, and the Confederate Rebel flag, which outsells American flags 150 to 1, he said.
Betsinger is also a registered sex offender, Philadelphia Magazine reported.
"In 2007, he was charged with more than 20 counts related to child pornography. He eventually entered a plea deal and was sentenced to probation. He's required to be on Pennsylvania's Megan's Law sex offender registry until the day he dies," the magazine said.
The flag display was hung sometime Sunday and removed Monday morning, concessions clerk Barbara Belles told the Times-Tribune of Scranton.
Facebook user Chloe Winters of Scranton posted the photo along with a note that she was "shocked and appalled" by the display. The post was later removed by Facebook who stated it "doesn't follow the Facebook Community Standards," the Times-Tribune said.
Efforts to reach Winters was not immediately successful.
The fair is located in Columbia County, 98 miles northwest of Philadelphia.
"We were initially unaware of the flag and other merchandise being displayed by a vendor on our fairgrounds," Fair officials said a Facebook post. "Unfortunately, we have over 1,200 vendors on our fairgrounds and it's difficult to monitor each one individually. Whenever someone brings something like this to our attention, we always discuss it with the vendor and take any steps to maintain a family-fun atmosphere at our fair."
On Monday, fair officials removed Betsinger from the ground because of the flag controversy, to avoid any confrontation over the flag and their concerns about his prior criminal history, said Tony Frazier, concessions manager.
"We wanted to avoid any disturbance on the grounds," Frazier said.
Pennsylvania is home to 40 hate groups, including three Neo-Nazi groups, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
