Protesters bring down confederate statue in Durham

Confederate statues in the Capitol building.

(Image credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

last updated 15 August 2017

The Confederate Soldiers Monument in Durham, North Carolina, was toppled Monday evening by protesters chanting "No KKK, no fascist USA." They cheered and kicked the statue when it hit the ground.

A Durham County spokesperson told WNCN that because the statue was on county property, it won't be easy for it to be permanently removed. "Due to a North Carolina state law passed a few years ago, Durham County is prohibited from removing or making substantive alteration to historic monuments and memorials," Dawn Dudley said. Gov. Roy Cooper (D) later tweeted, "The racism and deadly violence in Charlottesville is unacceptable but there is a better way to remove these monuments."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.