Protesters beat Confederate flag supporters bloody at the South Carolina statehouse on Monday night.
The brawl broke out in front of the Columbia Statehouse.
CBS Local reported:
One man has been arrested after a fight over the Confederate flag in front of the South Carolina Statehouse.
The brawl started about 7:15 p.m. Monday when about a dozen vehicles with Confederate flag supporters pulled up in front of the Statehouse and stopped in the middle of the street, Public Safety Department spokeswoman Sherri Iacobelli said in a statement.
About 10 of the flag supporters clashed with about 30 people who were on the Statehouse grounds protesting the flag, the statement said.
“The blood on my face, the blood in my teeth, the blood on my hands is no comparison to the Southern blood that runs through my veins,” Joe Linder told CBS News.
Linder, who was hit during the fight, supports the Confederate flag and says “racism has no part” in it.
“I’m gonna tell you one thing, I ain’t sitting down; this’ll just make me walk taller,” he told CBS News.
About 50 officers responded and contained the clash, including officers from the Bureau of Protective Services assigned to the Statehouse, as well as Columbia police, University of South Carolina officers and the South Carolina Highway Patrol.
