BLACK PROTESTERS MAKE PRO-CONFEDERATE ATTACKERS SEE STARS & BARS

The only arrest where a group of thirty Black protesters were attacked – and got the best of their attackers – was of the neo-Confederate rag supporter who police say instigated the brawl. 

Associated Press

COLUMBIA, SC – Two blocks of the street in front of the Statehouse was closed for a brief time during the disturbance.

Nicholas Thompson

Nicholas Thompson, 25, of Irmo, South Carolina, has been charged with disorderly conduct. It wasn’t clear if he has an attorney.

The Confederate flag has been a focus of protests since the fatal shooting of nine people at a historic black church in Charleston on June 17.

Public Safety Director Leroy Smith told reporters it was unfortunate that Columbia had a fight when there have been no problems reported in Charleston, where the shooting occurred.

The suspect in the Charleston shooting, Dylann Storm Roof, appears in a number of photographs online with the Confederate flag, prompting calls for removal of the flag from in front of the Statehouse.

South Carolina lawmakers are expected next week to consider proposals to take the flag down and move it to a museum.

The flag has flown at the Statehouse since the 1960s. It was removed from the Statehouse dome and placed at a Confederate Soldier Monument in front of the Statehouse in 2000.