Take Down That Flag

Daily News reports:

A woman was arrested for removing the Confederate flag from the South Carolina Statehouse Saturday -- only to have the banner raised again less than an hour later.

Bree Newsome climbed the 30-foot pole using a harness in Columbia just after dawn as officers yelled for her to come down, organizer Tamika Lewis told the Daily News.

"You cannot get to me with hatred and oppression and violence," Newsome shouted from the top of the pole, according to video. "I come to do this in the name of God. This flag comes down today."

Newsome took her time climbing down, citing prayers as she did so. When she reached the bottom, State Police took the flag out of her hands and arrested her.

Another activist, James Tyson, spotted Newsome at the bottom of the pole to make sure she didn't fall, Lewis said. He was arrested alongside Newsome as a group of onlookers cheered off camera.

Newsome, who is black, and Tyson, who is white, are part of a group of about 10 activists who orchestrated the flag's removal after a white supremacist allegedly slaughtered nine people at "Mother" Emanuel Church in Charleston on June 17.