Good news:
RogerMichael Moore has volunteered to pay Bree Newsome’s bail. Video of Bree Newsome removing the Confererate flag from the State House here
(via adelindschade)
On the early morning of June 27, activists in South Carolina gathered to take down the confederate flag flying above the Capitol before the funerals for 3 of the victims of the Charleston massacre begin. There is also supposed to be a “defend the flag” action later today.
A black woman identified as Bree climbed the flag pole and took the flag down herself. She was arrested shortly after climbing back down with the flag.
Check fergusonaction on twitter for more updates.
This is such an excellent direct action. The flag is back up now, but forcing the police to choose to defend it, and the state to choose to put it back up = brilliant.
Her name is Bree Newsome, and in a statement, she said, “Deciding to do what the SC Legislature has thus far neglected to do, [a group of concerned citizens] took down the symbol of white supremacy that inspired the massacre, continued to fly at full mast in defiance of South Carolina’s grief, and flew in defiance of everyone working to actualize a more equitable Carolinian future.”
She was arrested along with another person. Both of them are charged with defacing a monument, which carries three years in jail and a $5000 fine.
(See this article from Democracy Now, which also notes that the two state employees whose job it was to put the flag up again are African-American.)
(via princehal9000)
