Confederate monuments removed in Fayetteville, Louisburg

The statue of a Confederate soldier in Haymount in Fayetteville is coming down Saturday morning. A crane is on the scene.

Posted 3:41 p.m. Jun 27, 2020 — Updated 10:15 p.m. Jun 27, 2020

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — A Confederate soldier monument in Fayetteville came down Saturday afternoon.

Crews worked to remove the soldiers by using a crane. The statue stood in Haymount. According to the Fayetteville Observer, it was moved there from downtown 20 years ago. Crews spent about five hours on the 23-foot-tall statue.

City officials said in a statement the monument was relocated by its owners and placed into storage. The action was not directed or paid for by the city, the statement said. City Councilman Johnny Dawkins said on his Facebook page that the Sons of Confederate Veterans and Daughters of the Confederacy own the statue and had it moved.

“I certainly do not want to speak for the owners of the statue," Fayetteville Mayor Mitch Colvin said, according to the newspaper. "But I think they saw the current environment and sensitivity, and the public safety aspect, and made a decision. And I’m glad they did.″

Confederate statue in Louisburg (Google Maps photo)

In Louisburg, town officials made a quick decision to take down the civil war monument there. The town council voted Monday to take it down but the timing wasn't made public. Leaders said that was to avoid a clash with protesters and to increase safety.

The town administrator says the monument will be moved to Oakwood Cemetery.

On Friday, crews were working to paint a new mural around the Fayetteville Market House. The market house was the center of protests at the end of march due to its history.

The house is on the National Register of Historic Places and has stood since 1832. It was the site of trade, including of enslaved people, and of a skirmish during the Civil War.

Fayetteville Mayor Mitch Colvin said the city needs to find a balance between respecting the history of the iconic Market House and people's feelings toward a site where slaves were once sold.

Petition to 'knock down' Fayetteville Market House has over 115k signatures

Confederate monuments are being removed across the nation amid protests over racism in America and police brutality.

Many of these monuments, historians say, were put up with the intention of intimidating black Americans.

Historical background of Confederate monuments removed from State Capitol grounds

Most notably in North Carolina on June 21, the 75-foot-tall Confederate soldier monument in downtown Raleigh on State Capitol grounds was removed per request of Governor Roy Cooper.

In a statement, he wrote: "Monuments to white supremacy don’t belong in places of allegiance, and it’s past time that these painful memorials be moved in a legal, safe way."

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