The Confederate battle flag was temporarily removed from the front of the South Carolina Statehouse on Saturday when a woman climbed the flagpole and — despite calls by police to get down — removed the banner.
Calls for removing the flag have been renewed since nine black churchgoers were killed in what police characterized as a racist attack at a Charleston, South Carolina, church earlier this month.
Bree Newsome, 30, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was about halfway up the more than 9m steel flagpole just after dawn on Saturday when officers of the South Carolina Bureau of Protective Services ran to the flagpole and told her to get down. Instead, she continued climbing to the top and removed the flag.
Photo: Reuters
She and a man who had climbed over a 1.2m wrought-iron fence to get to the flag were arrested.
The flag, which is protected by state law, was raised about 45 minutes later, well ahead of a rally later on Saturday by supporters of keeping the flag where it is. The flag was carried by troops supporting the secessionist, pro-slavery southern states during the American Civil War from 1861 to 1865.
South Carolina Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Sherri Iacobelli said Newsome and James Ian Tyson, 30, also of Charlotte, were charged with defacing monuments on state Capitol grounds, a misdemeanor that carries a fine of up to US$5,000 and a prison term of up to three years or both.
A staff member at the Alvin Glenn Detention Center where the two were taken said she did not know whether they had attorneys. About the time of her arrest, Newsome released an e-mail statement to reporters.
“We removed the flag today because we cannot wait any longer. We cannot continue like this another day,” it said. “It is time for a new chapter where we are sincere about dismantling white supremacy and building toward true racial justice and equality.”
Later on Saturday, about 50 people who support keeping the flag held a rally at the statehouse. Many were waving Confederate battle flags as they shouted: “Heritage, not hate.”
“This is not a flag of hate. It is a flag of heritage and we have a right to our heritage,” Leland Browder of Greenville said. “And, you know, I am from the south and proud of the south and, you know, proud of this flag.”
Supporters also said that voters should decide the fate of the flag and shouted: “Let the People Vote.”
A similar rally was held on Saturday outside the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery, after Alabama Governor Robert Bentley, a Republican, acted by executive order to take down Civil War era flags outside the building.
South Carolina legislators on Tuesday took the initial steps toward removing the Confederate battle flag from statehouse grounds by agreeing to allow discussion of the matter during the legislative session.
The agreement came a day after Republican South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley reversed course and called for the divisive symbol to come down.
The flag has flown in front of the state capitol for 15 years after being moved from atop the statehouse dome.
The US’ National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), a leading civil rights organization, praised Newsome for her actions and called on authorities to treat her with leniency.
“Prosecutors should treat Ms Newsome with the same large-hearted measure of justice that inspired her actions,” NAACP president Cornell William Brooks said in an e-mailed statement. “The NAACP stands with our youth and behind the multigenerational band of activists fighting the substance and symbols of bigotry, hatred and intolerance.”
However, some state legislators worried that Newsome’s actions would hurt efforts to bring the flag down permanently.
“There are 2 ways the Confederate Flag can be removed forever. Citizens please engage legally or we lose!” South Carolina State Senator Marlon Kimpson of Charleston, a Democrat, said on Twitter.
In another tweet, Republican South Carolina State Senator Shane Massey of Edgefield said such actions” will make this discussion much more difficult.”
Both legislators favor bringing down the flag.
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