Woman who pulled down Confederate flag in 'act of public art': Publicity stunt wasn't publicity stunt

Brett T. | 9:19 PM on July 04, 2015

https://twitter.com/BreeNewsome/status/617403919027859456

DeRay Mckesson — the #BlackLivesMatter activist who is continually “attacked” as a paid protester while criss-crossing the country on a moment’s notice on a negative bank balance of $0.35 — was (of course) at the June 20th #TakeItDown protest in Columbia, S.C. He wasn’t quite willing to take down the Confederate flag from the State House grounds on his own, but he did size up the situation: “tightly protected, chain is only at the top, hard to get to to take down.”

That didn’t stop Bree Newsome from later scaling the pole and pulling down the flag, with videographer in tow, after Gov. Nikki Haley had already held a press conference to announce it would be taken down. Whatever you do, don’t call it a publicity stunt.

https://twitter.com/BreeNewsome/status/617412665330245633

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Nevertheless, the non-stunt has brought Newsome a great deal of publicity. She’s been interviewed by CNN and CBS News, and Time has even published a piece calling her flagpole climb “an act of public art.”

Time for DeRay to step up his game?

https://twitter.com/BreeNewsome/status/617414221492539392

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https://twitter.com/BreeNewsome/status/617433409133150208

Remember that time Sen. Claire McCaskill called Rush Limbaugh “so bad” for predicting the outrage over flags wasn’t going to stop with the removal of the Confederate flag? Maybe someone should send her this Independence Day shot of the American flag, upside-down, spray-painted with “Black Lives Matter.”