Three arrested during protests over Confederate statue in Pittsboro
Confederate symbols in Pittsboro drew protests on Saturday, with three arrested.
Supporters of a Confederate monument in the town's center held Confederate flags, saying the monument represents history that can't be erased. Opponents held signs rebuking racism, arguing that Confederate symbols represent white supremacy and racial oppression.
“Stop pretending that your racism is patriotism," one sign read.
“We will not go back to the 1950s," read another.
Officers charged Woody Elvin Weaver Jr., 64, of 5921 Burt Rd. in Fuquay Varina and Devin Michael Ceartas, 52, of 455 Fair Oaks Cir. in Chapel Hill with simple affray. Weaver and Ceartas were charged by citation and released at the scene.
Robert Ronald White Jr, 72, of 914 W 6th St. in Siler City was charged with assault on a law enforcement officer and disorderly conduct. White received a written promise to appear in court. A witness told WRAL News that a man was handcuffed and escorted away from the scene because he bumped a police officer who was trying to keep things under control.
Tensions have risen recently as Chatham County officials have worked on a plan to remove a Confederate monument outside the county courthouse.
The county Board of Commissioners decided last month to give the United Daughters of the Confederacy, which donated the statue to the county in 1907, until Oct. 1 to come up with a plan for its future.
If nothing is done, the commissioners said, they will consider the statue as trespassing on public property and make their own plans to remove it.
On Thursday, a Confederate flag was put up across the street from Horton Middle School, which served as the all-black high school in Chatham County during the days of segregation. The school is named for George Moses Horton, a slave from North Carolina who was a poet and wrote a book called "The Hope of Liberty."
On Thursday night, someone cut the metal flagpole, knocking it and the Confederate flag to the ground.
Supporters of the flag spent much of Friday at the site with tools to repair the damage and had the flag flying again late in the afternoon.
Nobody has claimed responsibility for removing the flag, which was on private property.
Two groups, the "Virginia Flaggers" and ACTBAC of North Carolina, take credit on Facebook for the flag raising.
"We are thrilled at the reaction and support from local citizens, who are fed up with the attempts by activist liberals to eradicate local history and disrespect their veterans," Virginia Flaggers wrote in a Facebook post.
Former Pittsboro mayor Randy Voller said the groups are trying to provoke reaction by flying a Confederate flag where they put it.
"They decided to put it right across from Horton Middle School, where children go in – white children, black children, brown children, a diverse population goes here," Voller said. "This is not playing to the best of us. This is a message of divisiveness and hate."
A couple of weeks ago, the groups erected a large Confederate flag along U.S. Highway 64 Business, just east of Pittsboro. They said in Facebook posts that they're getting a site ready for a third Confederate flag, with as many as five planned around the county.
"If, in fact, the issue with the monument had not become this flashpoint, we would not see these flags going up in town," Voller said. "This is their response. This is obviously a long-term play."
Deputies with the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office and officers with the Carrboro Police Department and Broadway Police Department responded to assist with the demonstrations. The Pittsboro Police Department wishes to thank them for their assistance during these events.
