Baltimore removes Confederate monuments overnight

Workers in Baltimore removed four of the city’s Confederate monuments in the early hours on Wednesday, days after many residents took to the streets to protest a white nationalist rally in Virginia that left three dead and many injured.

Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh said Tuesday the monuments should come down, telling WBAL “let’s get it done,” but she didn’t want to say when.

The Baltimore City Council unanimously passed a resolution Monday to remove the monuments, WTOP reported.

“They [council members] could have started this back in August of last year, but of course nothing got done,” Ms. Pugh told WBAL. “So, here I am, you know, I will get it done, and I have already asked contractors to look at how quickly we can move them and at what cost we would have to remove them at and I have even asked for donations and volunteers if they want to help us in that process.”

The Baltimore Sun reported that a thousand people took to the city streets to protest white supremacy and what happened in Charlottesville. In addition to demanding the removal of the statutes, they also wanted to see the firing of Steve Bannon, President Trump’s senior adviser.

In the dark morning hours, workers brought flatbed trucks and removed the Confederate Women’s Monument in Bishop Square Park, the Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument on Mount Royal Avenue, the Lee Jackson Monument in the Wyman Park Dell and a statue of Justice Roger Taney near the Washington Monument, WBAL said.

Taney wrote the Dred Scott decision when he sat on the Supreme Court.

On Tuesday, Gov. Larry Hogan said a statute of Taney would be removed from the lawn of the state house.

The issue of what to do with Confederate statutes and symbols is growing nationwide.

In Durham, North Carolina, protesters tied a rope around the Confederate Soldiers Monument and toppled it down. Many then stomped on the structure after it was on the ground.

“[Takiyah] Thompson was charged with participation in a riot with property damage in excess of $1,500 (Class H Felony) and inciting others to riot where there is property damage in excess of $1,500 (Class F Felony), the Sheriff’s Office said. She also was charged with disorderly conduct by injury to a statue and damage to real property, both misdemeanors,” according to the Herald-Sun.