New Details About Md. Native Who Removed S.C. Confederate Flag
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Her actions are making headlines across the country and in the debate and history of the Confederate flag, but her very own history leads back to the Baltimore area.
Marcus Washington has more on Bree Newsome's connection to our area.
She graduated from high school in Columbia, Maryland---but it's what she did in Columbia, South Carolina, that has a lot of people talking about Bree Newsome.
Her climb up a 30-foot pole to remove the Confederate flag flying outside South Carolina's State House has been the topic of conversations from kitchen tables to the BET Awards red carpet in Los Angeles.
"I would have helped her climb up that pole and snatch it down," said Monica.
"I do know that if anything is causing that much controversy and upstir amongst the community, I think you should address it immediately," said Wale.
Newsome, with the help of fellow activist James Tyson, removed the Confederate flag from the pole standing outside Columbia, South Carolina's State House against orders from law enforcement. She was arrested and charged with defacing monuments on the capitol grounds, but it was here in Columbia, Maryland, that many people watched the budding activist grow.
She attended and graduated from Oakland Mills High School in 2003. Many of her former classmates remember her being a nice and sweet person, but they say you knew she wasn't a pushover, so her recent actions are no surprise. The removal of the flag that flies high in many southern states has been the topic of many conversations after nine blacks were killed inside a historic South Carolina church by a man linked to white supremacist groups.
It's a flag that means different things for different people.
"The idea of people fighting for their homes---I see that, but I also see it where others could view it as a symbol of a culture that enslaved their ancestors and it hurts them," said one man.
Just as the flag rises, so does the debate.
After Newsome's arrest, many people came to her defense, saying they would pay her bail---including filmmaker Michael Moore. An online funds campaign has raised more than $113,000 dollars for her legal defense.
Newsome and James Tyson were bonded out of the jail and were allowed to leave the state.