On Saturday, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper called for Confederate monuments to be removed from the State Capitol following two statues being pulled down by protestors Friday evening.
Video of the toppling appeared on Twitter, complemented by the sound of cheers:
STATUES TOPPLED: After they were stopped by officers earlier this evening, demonstrators threw ropes around two statues on the Confederate monument outside the North Carolina Capitol and successfully pulled them to the ground. >>https://t.co/CSbIUxj1GZ pic.twitter.com/WisGCJTSAy
— ABC11 EyewitnessNews (@ABC11_WTVD) June 20, 2020
Via social media, Roy cited public safety as his reason for the additional takedowns:
“I have ordered the Confederate monuments on the Capitol grounds be moved to protect public safety. I am concerned about the dangerous efforts to pull down and carry off large, heavy statues and the strong potential for violent clashes at the site.”
I have ordered the Confederate monuments on the Capitol grounds be moved to protect public safety. I am concerned about the dangerous efforts to pull down and carry off large, heavy statues and the strong potential for violent clashes at the site. (1/3)
— Governor Roy Cooper (@NC_Governor) June 20, 2020
As reported by Reuters, Saturday morning, construction workers took down monuments including one in tribute to women of the Confederacy. Another honored Confederate soldier Henry Wyatt.
Toppling statues, as you’ve surely noticed, has gained popularity as of late.
As previously covered by RedState’s Elizabeth Vaughn, in Washington D.C., a statue of Confederate officer Albert Pike was forced down in Judiciary Square.
Protestors also poured flammable liquid onto the monument and set it ablaze.
The President tweeted about that Friday:
“The D.C. Police are not doing their job as they watch a statue be ripped down & burn. These people should be immediately arrested. A disgrace to our Country!”
The D.C. Police are not doing their job as they watch a statue be ripped down & burn. These people should be immediately arrested. A disgrace to our Country! @MayorBowser
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 20, 2020
The country’s also seen the removal by activists of George Washington in Portland and even the man who freed the slaves — Abraham Lincoln — in London.
Antifa rioters on Sandy Blvd. in Portland draped a US flag over a George Washington statue & set it on fire. They then toppled the statue. “Genocidal colonist” & “f— cops” are sprayed on monument. Rioters have began to build another autonomous zone nearby. pic.twitter.com/TrZkhPK9zp
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) June 19, 2020
Where will it end? How much of American history will be erased? How much should?
Putting issues of the Civil War aside — as the derided symbolism of the past appears to include a wider breadth than that of the Confederacy — it seems to me that history is an important part of life and our understanding of the world. And removing all evidence of the country’s beginnings make its future even less clear.
But perhaps for those raging against America, that’s the point.
-ALEX
See 3 more pieces from me:
‘F-ing Nazis!’ A Man in a Red Hat is Chased and Attacked by a South Carolina Mob
Black Lives Matter Protestors Deface Statue of Abraham Lincoln
Find all my RedState work here.
And please follow Alex Parker on Twitter and Facebook.
Thank you for reading! Please sound off in the Comments section below.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member