A black Charleston man was arrested earlier this week and charged with disorderly conduct for jumping over a tape barrier and tackling a massive confederate flag, but many feel that the man should be applauded, rather than punished.
Muhiyidin d’Baha must have been a pole vaulter in school with the moves he put on display when he was videoed vaulting over a barrier constructed by officials which was protecting a large confederate flag on a pole.
According to the Charleston City Paper, a small group belonging to the Secessionist Party brought the massive confederate flag to protest against civil rights activist Bree Newsom, who was inside a nearby building giving a talk on civil rights and civil disobedience.
Newsom made headlines in South Carolina in 2015 for scaling the South Carolina Statehouse to rip down the Confederate flag, an act of civil disobedience that she was arrested for.
Because of her action, those who support the “history” of the Confederate flag decided to hold their own protest, supporting their right to wave the flag in the very town where Dylann Roof murdered nine black churchgoers in a racially-motivated domestic terrorism event less than two years ago.
In online events advertising the protest, the Secessionists said that they planned to put the “symbols of our ancestors” on display. In the comments, the real inspiration behind the display was revealed, “Time was that would have been strange fruit before the next sunrise.”
In the spirit of Newsom’s past “crime,” it was only right that d’Baha would enact his own bit of civil disobedience and take down the symbol of racial opporession and backwards beliefs.
As the stunning video shows, d’Baha sprung into acting, racing past police and snatching the flag from the air, pulling it toward the ground as two irate Secessionists attempted to give chase. d’Baha didn’t stick around and avoided any confrontation with the two men living comfortably in the past.
d’Baha was later arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor. The $2,000 for his bail was quickly raised online through crowdfunding in a show of support for his actions.
This guy doesn’t deserve jail time, but rather a gold medal for this display of athleticism and patriotism.
Watch.
