Pugh told The New York Times that she used her emergency powers as mayor to take down statues of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson from a public park — surprising even some members of the city council. a statement released Wednesday afternoon, Confederate section of Hollywood Forever Cemetery. The City Council of Lexington, Kentucky voted unanimously on Tuesday to remove Confederate statues from the lawn in front of an old county courthouse. A statue that stood in the Confederate section of Hollywood Forever Cemetery for more than 90 years was toppled on Wednesday, Los Angeles Times reports. In response, a white nationalist group is reportedly planning a protest. — Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) August 17, 2017. Larry Hogan also called for a statue memorializing Roger B. Taney, a Supreme Court justice who penned the infamous Dred Scott decision, which determined that anyone descended from a slave could not be an American citizen, be removed from the pedestal where it had been erected since 1887. Statues, monuments and other images honoring Confederate soldiers, slave owners and other controversial historical figures have been torn down from Virginia to … Roy Cooper has called for additional monuments to be torn down and is asking the state legislature to repeal a 2015 law that prevents the destruction of Civil War monuments. Public Symbols of the Confederacy" report released Tuesday found 38 monuments had been removed in less than three months since Floyd's death in Minneapolis on Memorial Day. Bust of Roger B. Taney: Washington, D.C. July 22: Voted by the House of Representatives Statue of … Brooks called it a "reckoning" and said the swift removal of so many statues speaks to what is possible to accomplish in a short amount of time. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams called for a frieze depicting Confederate soldiers to be removed from Stone Mountain in Georgia. There have also been efforts to ban the Confederate flag and rename military bases named after Confederate generals. There are 725 monuments still standing, a decrease of about 5% since Floyd's death. "Our public entities should no longer play a role in distorting history by honoring a secessionist government that waged war against the United States to preserve white supremacy and the enslavement of millions of people," SPLC wrote in its 2019 update to the "Whose Heritage?" So far, five memorials have been pulled down by protesters in recent weeks, and those that haven’t been pulled down yet probably won’t stay up too much longer. By far the most popular target was Christopher Columbus, with 33 statues in total having been defaced and pulled down. In Washington DC, a group of protestors gathered on Sunday to call for the statue of Albert Pike, a Confederate general, to be torn down. The death of George Floyd is leading to the removal -- by protesters in some cases and city leaders in others -- of contentious statues that have … In a PBS interview, Al Sharpton called for the Jefferson Memorial in Washington DC to be abandoned because the third president of the United States and author of the Declaration of Independence was a slave owner. Bre Payton was a staff writer at The Federalist. Columbus Day protests: Lincoln, Roosevelt statues torn down in Portland 13 Oct, 2020 06:16 AM 3 minutes to read Organisers dubbed the protest "Indigenous Peoples Day of Rage". A statue of the abolitionist and writer Frederick Douglass, pictured here, was torn from its base in Rochester, N.Y., on the anniversary of … The U.S. Capitol is basically a confederate statue bazaar https://t.co/I32ctS62mA pic.twitter.com/FsNJKKxtpR, — HuffPost Politics (@HuffPostPol) August 17, 2017. The Workers World Party released a statement claiming that it should be their right to tear the monuments down. The statue, which has been spray-painted and beheaded before, will be fully taken down by city officials and placed into storage as its future is determined, Mayor Marty Walsh said. North Carolina Gov. data from the Southern Poverty Law Center, Whose Heritage? In a statement released Wednesday afternoon, Virginia Gov. Statues In The Capitol. Confederate monuments aren't the only symbols that have been removed in recent months. It’s not only icons of the Civil War that are being targeted. Harvey Milk is a gay rights icon and one of the … City removes downtown Denver statue after video shows another torn down overnight. Confederate monuments are being removed at a rapidly increased pace since George Floyd's death, according to data from the Southern Poverty Law Center. Efforts to remove Confederate symbols are ongoing. "I think it's incredible ... (it) really speaks to this moment we're in.". © 2021 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Satellite Information Network, LLC. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) have both called for statues commemorating Confederates to be removed from the U.S. Capitol. Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh had Civil War monuments removed from the city in the cover of night, without any public hearings or any public discussion process. So far, Columbus statues have been either pulled down or vandalized in Miami, Richmond, St. Paul, and Boston. The Colston statue, which was pushed into Bristol harbour after being hauled down from its plinth by demonstrators on Sunday, has long been contentious in … Public Symbols of the Confederacy, Charleston, South Carolina, church shooting, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. multiple statues have been torn down in Richmond. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) have both … We have much work to do. The update counted eight schools that have been renamed, two roads that were renamed and one state flag that was changed. Others were torn down by protesters. On June 6, a statue of Confederate Gen. Williams Carter Wickham was toppled by protesters. A plaque commemorating Jefferson Davis was also removed from a park this week. In Richmond, Virginia, for example, multiple monuments owned by the city were removed after a statue of Jefferson Davis was torn down by protesters. In Nashville, Tennessee, protestors gathered to call for the removal of a monument depicting Nathan Bedford Forrest, a lieutenant in the Confederate army, from the state capitol on Monday. At that time, the organization reported 48 monuments had been removed between June 2015 and early 2019. The Confederate Soldiers Monument was torn down by protesters from its spot in front of the old Durham County Courthouse on Monday. The updated "Whose Heritage? Some were removed by local governments. At a demonstration in Richmond, Virginia, on Tuesday night, a 93-year-old statue of Christopher Columbus was brought down, set on fire, and thrown into a lake as bystanders chanted “Tear it down.” In the wake of the violence that took place in Charlottesville over last weekend, numerous activists and politicians have called for the destruction of more historical monuments, although a significant majority of Americans (62 percent) think the monuments should stay put. In the US, a three-metre tall (10ft) bronze statue of the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus has been torn down, set alight and thrown into a lake in Saint Paul, Richmond, Minnesota. Though by no means comprehensive, here’s a list of the monuments that are facing calls for removal or have already been torn down. Four have been arrested in connection to this instance of vandalism. and across Virginia, leading Richmond's mayor to plead for people to let the legal process play out in the name of public safety. Statues of prominent figures in the Confederacy are a common sight in the South. In addition to increased efforts to remove Confederate symbols, protesters and activists have also targeted statues of other historical figures, particularly Christopher Columbus, as symbols of white supremacy. “Officers were called back to the scene and found a rope tied to the statue’s neck. It’s the latest of at least five different statues that have been torn down in Portland so far this year. A statue of Harvey Scott has been torn down, marking the latest such figure to be toppled in Portland. The statue was located in a park where many other monuments have historically been vandalized. I will be introducing a bill to remove Confederate statues from the US Capitol building. The accelerated removal of statues has been fueled by widespread protests against systemic racism and police brutality following Floyd's death, with more people linking Confederate monuments with white supremacy, according to Lecia Brooks, SPLC chief of staff. In Gainesville, Florida, a statue of a Confederate soldier was removed Monday from outside a county administrative building. report. The updated number include statues felled by protesters in addition to ones removed by authorities, Brooks said. On June 10, a statue depicting former Confederate President Jefferson Davis was torn down. United States In Richmond, Virginia, the statue of Christopher Columbus was toppled, lit on fire, and dumped in a nearby lake by... Also in Richmond, protesters pulled down a statue of slave owner Williams Carter Wickham. The motive and perpetrator behind the destruction are both unknown. “A white flag was hung on the gun of the statue and its head and feet were spray painted,” WECT reports. We do it by putting them up. In several cities across the country, statues of Confederate figures have been taken down. We don’t erase history by pulling statues down. So far, there have not been any arrests/citations related to either incident. Terry McAuliffe is asking state legislators and city officials to tear down monuments throughout the Old Dominion. Maryland Gov. The statue, which stood at the top of Mount Tabor, had been brought down by Tuesday morning. In Richmond, Virginia, for example, multiple monuments owned by the city were removed after a statue of Jefferson Davis was torn down by protesters. But it has stood since 1813 to mark his role in developing the West India Docks, so there’s time for a democratic process to go on. Upon examination, officers said they believe it was likely tied to a vehicle in an attempt to pull the statue over.”. That's nearly as many removals as reported in the three years following the Charleston, South Carolina, church shooting. Vice News’s Wilbert L. Cooper called for Mount Rushmore to be destroyed because the U.S. presidents whose visages are carved into the mountainside are problematic by today’s standards. A Chicago pastor has asked the mayor to remove the names of two former presidents — George Washington and Andrew Jackson — from city parks because both men owned slaves. On Monday, protesters gathered in favor of removing a statue of Civil War officer John B. Castleman from Louisville, Kentucky. proposed building a new museum to house it that would cost over 5 … In many cases, local leaders have responded to the protests by giving into their demands and having city services take down such statues safely, rather than leaving it up to the chaos of the crowds. Even so, most Confederate monuments in public spaces remain, according to SPLC. Harvey Milk’s bust at San Francisco City Hall. Sign up for the Complex Newsletter for … It’s unclear why the statue was torn down and who did it. Only 27 percent of Americans think these statues should be removed for fear of offending some people. Protesters in downtown Portland tore down the statues of two former presidents Sunday night and damaged a museum and several businesses during an event titled "Indigenous People's Day of Rage." In total, the report found 40 symbols had been removed and 14 entities had been renamed since Floyd's death. Organisers have said they were inspired by the 'direct action taken by Bristolians', referring to the tearing down of slave trader Edward Colston's statue on Sunday in … The HuffPost got in on the action with this over-the-top headline. This is just one step. Statue was torn off pedestal and destroyed. Here’s A List Of All The Monuments Liberals Want To Tear Down So Far. This week, a Virginia city council voted to remove a monument which honors a Confederate infantry unit and has stood in the city for more than a century. In several cases, the statues have even been toppled by activists taking matters into their own hands. have called for the destruction of more historical monuments, called for Mount Rushmore to be destroyed. People have also called for a memorial of Forrest, which sits on private property, to be hidden from view of the nearby highway. Copyright © 2021 The Federalist, a wholly independent division of FDRLST Media, All Rights Reserved. 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