In the wake of the Charleston shooting, officials are questioning the use of the controversial Confederate flag. Major retailer Walmart announced it will be pulling all Confederate flag merchandise off its shelves, reported CNN.
Since the massacre at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., the social media movement "#takedowntheflag" called out to ban the use of the flag used as a symbol of the slave-holding southern states during the American Civil War.
During a press conference Monday, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley called for the removal of the offensive flag from the state house grounds, according to CNN. "We are here in a moment of unity, in our state, without ill will, to say it's time to move the flag from the capitol grounds," said Haley to a round of applause.
Shortly after her announcement, major U.S. retailers like Walmart, Sears and eBay followed suit.
As of Tuesday, all Confederate flags and merchandise—ranging from T-shirts to belt buckles—were removed from Walmart's website.
In an interview with CNN Money, Walmart CEO Dough McMillon said he was surprised to learn that Walmart sold Confederate flags. "Yesterday, we looked to make sure we knew what we were selling," he said. "To my surprise, we found some [items] and decided to stop selling those products."
Walmart is the world's largest retailer and topped the Fortune 500 list for the third year in a row, according to Fox Business Network's Maria Bartiromo.
"We don't want any of the merchandise that we sell to be offensive," McMillon told Bartiromo. "We want everybody to shop at Walmart. We want everybody to be comfortable coming in to our stores. And we want our associates to feel good about where they work."
