Dressed in climbing gear and a helmet, Brittany “Bree” Newsome shimmied up a flagpole on the grounds of the South Carolina state Capitol early Saturday and removed the Confederate battle flag that has reignited national debate over the emblem’s place in modern America.
Not long after she was led away in handcuffs, Newsome became a hero, a trending topic on social media and the subject of an online fundraiser.
Newsome was arrested around 6:30 a.m., shortly after she returned to ground with flag in hand. Video shows fellow activist James Tyson waiting at the flagpole’s base inside the wrought-iron fence to help her out of her climbing gear. Law enforcement fellow officers helped her over the fence before placing her in handcuffs and taking her into custody.
Newsome and Tyson, both 30, were charged with defacing a monument, a misdemeanor, and a new flag went up within about an hour, according to the S.C. Department of Public Safety.
But the moment had made its mark in the ongoing furor over the Confederate banner on the State House grounds — and broader debate over its value in American society 150 years after the end of the Civil War.
#FreeBree became a trending topic on Twitter as opponents of the flag, including some celebrities, cheered Newsome and shared images from the incident. Filmmaker Michael Moore was one of many to offer to pay bail or legal fees. Advocacy group ColorofChange launched an online petition calling for the charge to be dropped, and an online fundraiser was set up pay Newsome’s legal fees.
South Carolina lawmakers raised the universally known Confederate emblem over the State House in 1961, officially in honor of the war’s centennial. But it was also a time of growing momentum in the civil rights movement, and white leaders in the South were digging their heels in against efforts to end segregation. For nearly 40 years it flew under the U.S. and state flag, above the seat of government, until a compromise moved it to a flagpole next to a soldiers’ monument.
That move didn’t satisfy opponents, who maintained that the flag’s display on the grounds amounted to tacit state endorsement of white supremacy.
But efforts to remove it had gone nowhere in the years before the awful night of June 17 — when nine people who had gathered for Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston were massacred. All nine victims were African-American, including the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, who also was a state senator.
The motivations of the shooter, 21-year-old Dylan Roof, became clear after his arrest the next day in North Carolina. A website surfaced showing a racist manifesto and 60 photos of Roof, some of them showing him waving Confederate flags while armed.
The revelations spurred politicians around the South to re-examine the placement of the Confederate flags on everything from government property to state-issued license plates amid national debate over its meaning. South Carolina’s Republican governor, Nikki Haley, on Monday called for the removal of the flag, saying that while it is “an integral part of our past, [it] does not represent the future of our great state.” Among the politicians joining her at the announcement were U.S. Sens. Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott, both Republicans, and Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn.
State representatives on Tuesday resoundingly voted to allow debate on a bill to bring it down. Until such a bill passes, the flag continues to fly — except for a brief time around dawn Saturday.
In a statement through activist group #BlackLivesMatter, Newsome explained her actions, saying, “we can’t wait any longer.”
“We can’t continue like this another day,” Newsome said. “It’s time for a new chapter where we are sincere about dismantling white supremacy and building toward true racial justice and equality.”