Police were called to the beach Monday to quell a spontaneous Civil War reenactment. Witnesses say it all started when Tim Guthrie, 41, of Tennessee made a snide comment about the rebel flag swimming suits of the family next to him at the Baltic St beach access. Randall Johnson, of Ohio took umbrage with the comments and decided to say something about it. The men exchanged words or grunts according to witnesses, and began shoving each other. The significant other’s of the men decided to start exchanging insults and began circiling. After much yelling and mouth breathing, Johnson finally swung at, but did not connect with Guthrie. The spouses locked arms and began pulling eachother’s hair. Even the children of the families began to hit chase eachother.
At that point all the beach goers wearing American flag bathing suits, which constitutes a large percentage of people on the beach, joined into the melee. Things were not looking good for Johnson, but out of nowhere an entire family of confederate flag wearers crested the dune. With a Rebel yell they descended into the fray.
Nags Head Police arrived shortly after, and put an end to the altercation. According to Officer Drumdulerman, “There wasn’t much real fighting going on. They were mostly chasing each other all over the beach. I don’t think the guy that started it even put his beer down. The only thing that was damaged was a Hard Slick body board that caught on fire after a cigarette was dropped on it.”
When contacted, the Outer Banks History Center told the OBX Report, that this is the first ever impromptu Civil War reenactment on the Outer Banks. “We haven’t had this kind of beach shenanigans since the The Chicamacomico Races in 1861,” said Historian Laura Barkley, “We love that the visitors to the Outer Banks are really engaging with the history here. It just goes to show that just because they go to the Aquarium, beach, Jockey’s Ridge, Lost Colony, and basically every other attraction but us, they still want to learn about history.”