Confederate memorial removed after being defaced, nearly toppled by Alabama protesters
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin has made good on his promise by ordering the removal of one of Alabama’s most prominent Confederate monuments.
On Monday, crews went to work removing the 115-year-old Confederate Soldiers & Sailors Monument from Birmingham’s Linn Park, AL.com reported.
The obelisk, dedicated in 1905, is at the center of a years-long legal battle between the city and the Alabama Attorney General’s Office, and was the target of weekend protests sparked by the death of George Floyd, 46, who died in police custody in Minneapolis. What began as a peaceful protest Sunday ended with demonstrators breaking windows, setting fires, vandalizing and toppling one of many Confederate statues at Linn Park, according to the outlet.
The Confederate Soldiers & Sailors Monument almost saw the same fate amid protesters’ failed attempts to bring it down. However, Woodfin called for peace and asked that they give him 24 hours to “finish the job for you.”
“I understand the frustration and the anger that you have,” he told the crowd Sunday, local station CBS 42 reported.
By late Monday, crews had begun dismantling the monument, according to the Associated Press. Using straps, a crane and other heavy equipment, workers removed the 52-foot-tall monument piece by piece for it to be hauled away.
Woodfin said the city is working on donating the memorial to a museum or another local group.
The mayor said he anticipates pushback from the state, however, regarding a 2017 law that prohibits the “removal, renaming, removal and alteration of monuments,” memorials and other “architecturally significant” structures that have been present for more than 40 years, according to CNN.
While a source of pride for some, for others the state’s Confederate memorials have been a glaring reminder of Alabama’s racist past. Sarah Collins Rudolph, whose sister was one of four African-American girls killed in a bombing at the 16th Street Baptist Church in 1963, told the AP she’s glad the statue is gone.
“I’m glad it’s been removed because it has been so long,” Rudolph told the outlet, adding, “It’s a hate monument.”
In 2017, Birmingham was hit with a $25,000 fine after installing a plywood screen to hide the inscription on the base of the monument, according to BirminghamTimes.com.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall has already threatened to sue the city over the memorial’s removal.
“Should the City of Birmingham proceed with the removal of the monument in question, based upon multiple conversations I’ve had today, city leaders understand I will perform the duties assigned to me by the [Alabama Monuments Preservation] Act to pursue a new civil complaint against the city,” Marshall said in a statement.
Woodfin is aware of the consequence, but said it’s worth it if it means peace for his city.
“In order to prevent more civil unrest, it is very imperative that we remove this statue in Linn Park,” the mayor said in a statement. “That has a cost to it. I understand the AG’s office can bring a civil suit against the city and if there’s a judgment rendered from a judge, then we should be held accountable and I am willing to accept that because that is a lower cost than civil unrest in our city.”
A local group has since launched a GoFundMe page to help Woodfin and the city pay any legal fines.
This story was originally published June 2, 2020 at 11:35 AM with the headline "Confederate memorial removed after being defaced, nearly toppled by Alabama protesters."