Police shut down traffic in both directions in downtown Bethlehem on Saturday to control and arrest a man yelling obscenities at Hotel Bethlehem over a Confederate flag hanging in the window.

“He was very loud and obnoxious,” Bethlehem Police Chief Mark DiLuzio told The Morning Call. “What he was saying wasn’t appropriate because of the kids on the street and everything.”

The man, who was identified by police, apparently lost his mind over the Confederate flag hung in the window by the hotel for a wedding at the hotel. The couple met during a Civil War re-enactment, and the Confederate flag was among others including the Union flag and American flag, hotel manager Dennis Costello Lehigh Valley Live.

“There were people dressed in long dresses, there were uniforms,” he said. “They just wanted their theme to be of the Civil War era. There was no political message.”

“There was certainly no intent on our part and certainly I don’t think on their part either to offend anybody or to cause any ill will,” Costello told the Morning Call. “They didn’t mean to upset anyone.”

DiLuzio told Lehigh Valley Live that when the man saw the Confederate flag, “he was freaking out, screaming and yelling.

“He created a very aggressive and disorderly scene,” he said.

DiLuzio said the man refused to stop shouting obscenities when confronted by police and was eventually carried away from the scene by authorities.

“If his behavior wasn’t offensive and he walked inside the hotel and in a civilized manner asked the flag to be taken down, I’m sure the hotel would have apologized and taken it down,” he told Lehigh Valley Live.

Fountain Hill resident Leo Atkinson witnessed the melee.

“I didn’t know why he was yelling, then I saw the flag,” he said.

Atkinson told the Morning Call he doesn’t believe the Confederate flag has any place in Bethlehem, regardless of whether it’s for a private wedding or public display.

“Personally, I think it’s a hate symbol. Nobody would expect to see a Nazi flag flying,” he said. “I don’t think in the spirit of the celebration of anything you should fly a flag that’s hateful to some people. It’s not something I’d expect to see in downtown Bethlehem.”

Costello said the hotel asked the wedding couple to remove the flag when he realized it was offending people, and likely won’t make the mistake of allowing the Confederate flag on the premises again.

“In hindsight, if someone says, ‘Well, we’re going to do a Civil War re-enactment,’ we’d say, ‘Alright, that’s good, but you’ve got to leave the flags at home,’” he said.