Dad: Daughter removed flag in civil rights tradition

The president of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center said his daughter is following the footsteps of past civil rights leaders.

As debate about the Confederate flag continues across the country, Bree Newsome, 30, took the flag into her own hands and removed it from South Carolina statehouse grounds Saturday morning.

"Raised as a person of conscience, Bree chose to express her passion in the tradition of Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr. and countless others who took a stand for freedom," Clarence Newsome said.

Bree Newsome climbed a 30-foot pole in front of the South Carolina Statehouse and took down the Confederate flag as fellow activist, James Ian Tyson waited on the ground.

Officers arrested the pair as soon as Newsome's feet touched the ground. They were released from jail Saturday after posting bond.

"As a father, my first priority is the safety and well-being of my daughter," Newsome said in a statement Monday morning.

"The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center welcomes the opportunity to discuss the confederate flag's meaning, both past and present, and the impact the flag has on current conversations regarding race relations and civil rights."

Bree Newsome, a self-proclaimed activist and freedom fighter, graduated from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts with a degree in Film and Television. She is also the front-woman for a Charlotte-based funk band called Powerhouse, according to her website.

She donned protective climbing gear before climbing the pole to remove the Confederate flag. When she reached the halfway point, officers of the South Carolina Bureau of Protective Services told her to get down. But she continued to the top and removed the flag.

"We removed the flag today because we can't wait any longer," Newsome said in a statement reported by The Associated Press. "We can't continue like this another day. It's time for a new chapter where we are sincere about dismantling white supremacy and building toward true racial justice and equality."

The flag was raised again 45 minutes after Newsome's arrest. About 50 people who support keeping the flag gathered around it later Saturday and shouted "Heritage Not Hate!"

The flag's presence on state grounds has been under scrutiny after nine black churchgoers were killed by a lone gunman at a Charleston church on June 17. The suspect, Dylann Roof, had posed with the Confederate flag and with symbols of white supremacy.

Supporters of Bree Newsome have started a crowdfunding page on Indiegogo to raise money for court costs.

More than 4,000 people have raised about $103,000 in one day.

Some South Carolina state lawmakers are worried that Newsome's actions will hurt efforts to bring the flag down.

The NAACP supports Newsome's actions.

"Prosecutors should treat Ms. Newsome with the same large-hearted measure of justice that inspired her actions," NAACP President Cornell William Brooks told The Associated Press. "The NAACP stands with our youth and behind the multi-generational band of activists fighting the substance and symbols of bigotry, hatred and intolerance."

Sherri Iacobelle, a spokeswoman for the South Carolina Department of Public Safety, told The Associated Press that Newsome and Tyson were charged with defacing monuments on state capitol grounds. The charge is a misdemeanor that carries a fine of up to $5,000 and up to three years in prison.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.