WEST JORDAN, UT (KTSU) – A family at a demolition derby felt they couldn’t take part when everyone was asked to stand for the national anthem.

Vehicles flew American flags and formed a procession as the anthem played, but when the Argueta family saw one truck flying the Confederate flag, they were taken aback.

“When I saw the Confederate flag, I didn’t want to stand because it meant slavery,” said 10-year-old Jasmine Argueta.

Jasmin and her 13-year-old sister Lillian were confused by the Confederate flag’s presence in the patriotic procession. Daniel Argueta, their father, says the family believes in saluting the American flag and just the American flag. Daniel had two brothers who served as police officers.

“You kind of get caught in, yes you want to stand, you support the US flag, you support the troops, you support police officers,” Daniel said. “But what is the Confederate flag doing there? For anybody that knows history and understands the negative impact of that flag and how it’s been used historically, it’s hard to stand up.”

While everyone else stood for the anthem, the Argueta family sat.  The family didn’t feel comfortable staying for the derby and was disappointed that the flag was flown at a city event on the weekend marking the 15^th anniversary of September 11^th. The Arguetas decided to contact the city.

“It was humiliating, it was demeaning, because with all the controversy going on with the flag recently and people sitting during the anthem, we had all intended to stand but we couldn’t,” Daniel said. “I understand it’s their freedom to fly it, I respect that, but to be asked to stand up and salute it in representation of our troops, our soldiers, our police officers and our country … that’s not proper.”

West Jordan’s Parks and Recreation Director Brian Clegg said that no one approved the Confederate flag as part of the demolition derby.

“I was surprised, but, again, when we approached the contractor he removed it,” Clegg explained. “We apologize that it upset some of the patrons.”

A city council spokesperson released the following statement:

The City contracts with Stirrin’ Dirt to produce the Demolition Derby. Apparently one of the drivers added a Confederate flag to the back of a truck that went into the arena for the National Anthem. As soon as city staff saw the flag in the arena, they asked the driver to take it down, which he did, but not before the truck circled the arena. We apologize for the incident and will be talking to the contractor further to determine why the flag was added. We strive to bring family friendly entertainment to the arena and regret that this incident made some patrons feel uncomfortable. We will be discussing steps we can take to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”