Confederate flag-waving protesters crowded the steps of the South Carolina Statehouse in Columbia on Saturday, hours after an activist named Bree Newsome briefly removed the controversial flag and was arrested immediately afterwards.
A similar rally drew nearly one thousand demonstrators at the state capitol building in Montgomery, Alabama, where the flag was removed earlier this week on the orders of Gov. Robert Bentley, according to the Montgomery Advertiser.
Currently in Montgomery, Alabama. #ConfederateTakeDown #ConfederateFlag pic.twitter.com/arUSnXOfqS— Jay (@jysbr) June 27, 2015
Confederate flag rally sing song of the south @MGMAdvertiser pic.twitter.com/1tpw5qnUrK— Rebecca Burylo (@BuryloRburylo) June 27, 2015
Is this real life? #confederate flag rally in #montgomery. More pics later. pic.twitter.com/kiAaqg65Ip— Scott McDaniel (@mcdev) June 27, 2015
A much smaller crowd with American flags gathered across the street to rally against the Confederate flag.
Confederate flag opposes gather across the street @MGMAdvertiser pic.twitter.com/34FHI2mztW— Rebecca Burylo (@BuryloRburylo) June 27, 2015
While South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and other prominent state politicians have called for the removal of the Confederate battle flag from the Capitol grounds, the final decision rests in the hands of the state's legislature.
On Saturday morning, Newsome, who is black, scaled the 30-foot flagpole outside the Statehouse, wearing climbing gear and a helmet. She was promptly arrested along with her white male friend who helped her onto the grounds, and the flag was hoisted again 45 minutes later.
The hashtag #FreeBree quickly climbed to the top of the U.S. trends list on Twitter, and celebrities weighed in with words of support.
Friends of @BreeNewsome - I will pay her bail money or any legal fees she has. Please let her know this. #Charleston #TakeDownTheFlag— Michael Moore (@MMFlint) June 27, 2015
Yes. I hope I get the call to direct the motion picture about a black superhero I admire. Her name is @BreeNewsome. pic.twitter.com/BgMeaNsbYk— Ava DuVernay (@AVAETC) June 27, 2015
Public outcry over the divisive flag has grown in the wake of a shooting in a Charleston, South Carolina church that left nine dead. The shooter, Dylann Storm Roof, is seen in various images on social media posing in front of his car with its confederate flag license plate, and another photo shows him holding the flag.
“[The flag] shows about the Civil War, that we lost, Southern states we lost, it leaves us with the pride we have in the South," flag supporter Lexy Webb told a local CBS affiliate at an earlier rally.