State Rep. criticized over Confederate flag bikini top

TAUNTON, Mass. (AP) - A Massachusetts state representative says she meant no offense when she posted a photo online of a snowman wearing a Confederate battle flag bikini top.

A local civil rights leader says he takes Shaunna O'Connell's word that she meant no harm, but says she probably should have been more aware of the potentially offensive connotations of the flag.

The Taunton Republican says she and her children built the snowman Sunday and decorated it with items left over from her church's clothing drive to help Sandy victims. She posted a photo to Facebook. She tells the Taunton Daily Gazette she received no negative comments about the picture.

Michael Curry, president of the NAACP's Boston chapter, says to many black Americans the flag "symbolizes a very troubling period in American history."