Confederate flag backers and protesters were involved in a brawl in front of the South Carolina statehouse. The police have arrested one man and charged him with disorderly conduct after about 40 people started fighting over the Confederate flag.
A brawl over the Confederate flag occurred at the South Carolina statehouse as it has been revealed that the controversial Civil War relic will be removed from the statehouse.
On Monday night, a group of 30 people – mainly African-Americans – were seen peacefully protesting in Columbia with signs demanding that the Confederate flag flying atop the South Carolina statehouse be removed.
Since the brutal murders of nine people in a Charleston church by deranged shooter Dylann Storm Roof, there has been a heated debate raging in America on whether or not to take down the Confederate flag from all public places.
Last week, a young activist named Bree Newsome decided to literally take matters into her own hands by climbing the flag pole to remove the Confederate flag.
Newsome, who was briefly arrested, explained her decision to break the law:
“I realized that now is the time for true courage the morning after the Charleston Massacre shook me to the core of my being. I couldn’t sleep. I sat awake in the dead of night. All the ghosts of the past seemed to be rising.”
There were no pole scaling superheroes at Monday night’s rally, just 30 demonstrators asking Governor Nikki Haley to do the right thing.
A group of ten people arrived with Confederate flags and confronted the protesters and a brawl followed where both sides threw nasty and bloody punches.
According to the police, Nicholas Thompson, 25, of South Carolina, was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct after it was discovered that he instigated the fight.
Sydney Baldwin, another flag supporter, spoke to local media saying that the anti-Confederate flag group prompted the brawl by taking his flag from his car.
“…racism has no part in it. I’m gonna tell you one thing, I ain’t sitting down; this’ll just make me walk taller, I jumped out of my truck. That was all I did, was grab my flag and I got hit in the side.”
There is a big possibility that on July 6, the flag, which has been at the statehouse since the 1960s might be removed, according to The Post And Courier.
The poll of lawmakers has determined that both the House and the Senate have achieved the two-thirds majority needed to take the flag down, if all supporters were to cast their votes. At least 33 senators and 83 House members say the flag should go.
Should the Confederate flag be removed from public places?
Bree Newsome speaks out about taking down the Confederate flag in South Carolina: http://t.co/biZB4vITb5 pic.twitter.com/WwHdroYb7X
— Mashable (@mashable) June 29, 2015
Update: "Bail for Bree Newsome" fund established for woman who took down the Confederate flag http://t.co/Yxe6vwvhqE pic.twitter.com/0VtkpjfPbc
— ThinkProgress (@thinkprogress) June 27, 2015
#BreeNewsome opens up about taking down Confederate flag on SC State capitol grounds: http://t.co/OBoS3mxfCs pic.twitter.com/gxust1ktTC
— The Root (@TheRoot) June 30, 2015
