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Activist Arrested After Taking Down Confederate Battle Flag at South Carolina Capitol: Reports

“We removed the flag today because we can’t wait any longer,” says the activist, whose action is drawing nationwide attention in the wake of the Charleston church shooting.
Bree Newsome of Charlotte, N.C., removes the Confederate battle flag at a Confederate monument at the Statehouse in Columbia, S.C., on Saturday, June, 27, 2015. She was taken into custody when she came down. The flag was raised again by capitol workers about 45 minutes later.

Bree Newsome of Charlotte, N.C., removes the Confederate battle flag at a Confederate monument at the Statehouse in Columbia, S.C., on Saturday, June, 27, 2015. She was taken into custody when she came down. The flag was raised again by capitol workers about 45 minutes later.

AP Photo/Bruce Smith
Updated on

An activist reportedly was arrested early Saturday after shimmying up a flagpole at the South Carolina state capitol in Columbia to remove the Confederate battle flag flying there. 

“We removed the flag today because we can’t wait any longer,” said the activist,  Brittany Ann Byuarim Newsome, who is called Bree, in a statement quoted by the Charleston Post and Courier.