News

Activist temporarily takes down Confederate flag at SC capitol

by Elliot Smilowitz - 06/27/15 9:10 AM ET

An activist climbed a 30-foot flagpole early Saturday morning to remove the Confederate flag that flies in front of South Carolina’s capitol building.

The woman was arrested after coming back down, and the flag was raised moments later, according to the Associated Press.

A rally in support of the Confederate flag was scheduled for the site later Saturday.

Activist tweets seemed to name the woman as Bree Newsome, with many linking to her Twitter feed.

Later Saturday morning, the hashtag “#FreeBree” was the top trending topic in the United States on Twitter.

Video of the incident shows the climber saying as she took down the flag, “I come against you in the name of God. This flag comes down today.”

An activist group Twitter account called Ferguson Action appeared to take credit for the act, in a series of photo and video tweets from the site:

Climber is talking to cop about why she’s doing this today. pic.twitter.com/sJuOFFtkzc

— Ferguson Action (@fergusonaction) June 27, 2015

Breaking: Activists in South Carolina are now taking down the confederate flag at state Capitol. pic.twitter.com/bDsZPbzD87

— Ferguson Action (@fergusonaction) June 27, 2015

Police are screaming “Get off the pole!” pic.twitter.com/CcOyhSs7Ll

— Ferguson Action (@fergusonaction) June 27, 2015

BREAKING: Activists in South Carolina are in process of taking down the confederate battle flag. #keepitdown pic.twitter.com/MBIyWC8PUp

— Ferguson Action (@fergusonaction) June 27, 2015

The flag is off the pole. #keepitdown pic.twitter.com/M22NvYRYJQ

— Ferguson Action (@fergusonaction) June 27, 2015

Climber has been arrested. Battle flag in tow and it no longer flies above the Capitol. pic.twitter.com/2xxPHNiRHe

— Ferguson Action (@fergusonaction) June 27, 2015

Later this morning, a hate group is planning a “defend the flag action.” They won’t have a flag to worship. pic.twitter.com/KgFaY1VXid

— Ferguson Action (@fergusonaction) June 27, 2015

This is Bree. An amazing black woman who climbed the pole and took down the racist flag. pic.twitter.com/DK07mcXRMo

— Ferguson Action (@fergusonaction) June 27, 2015