A woman the US has climbed a 30-foot flagpole in a bid to “dismantle white supremacy” in the United States.
Identified on social media, Bree Newsome made the risky climb to remove the Confederate flag from the South Carolina Statehouse grounds while Police were screaming "Get off the pole!"
Calls for removing the flag have been renewed since nine black churchgoers were killed in what police characterised as a racist attack at a Charleston, South Carolina church last week.
“After SC refused to take down the flag in time for the funerals, activists took matters into their own hands,” activist group Ferguson Action tweeted.
“We could not sit by and watch the victims of the Charleston Massacre be laid to rest while the inspiration for their deaths continue to fly above their caskets.”
Newsome and another man who had entered the wrought-iron fence surrounding the flag were arrested and taken into custody by Capitol police. He has referred to as a “white ally”
The flag, which is protected by state law, was raised again a short time later.
“The confederate flag was born out of a government defending the enslavement of Black people and resurrected as an emblem for whites violently opposing racial integration,” read a statement from colorofchange.org.
“Any government that recognizes the flag is declaring that it cherishes a history of racial terror.
“Taking down the flag is just one step but a symbolically meaningful one. Make no mistake about it, however, racism isn’t just a flag or words it’s baked into our economy and inequities in our democracy and criminal justice system.”
“South Carolina officials have sided with white supremacists in choosing to restore the flag before a planned rally.
“The legislature must immediately vote to permanently remove the Confederate flag from the capitol and all state buildings.”
