Sons of Confederate Veterans group placed flowers at Silent Sam site
A Facebook post indicates that it was a Sons of Confederate Veterans group that placed dozens of flower bouquets around the pedestal of the Confederate statue on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus.
Protesters tore down the “Silent Sam” statue on Aug. 20 and only the pedestal remains on campus as university as officials work to determine the statue’s future.
A post showing photos of people placing flowers at the site was shared on the Facebook page of Rowan Rifles #405, a Salisbury-based Sons of Confederate Veterans group.
The “Silent Sam” statue has been in storage since it was toppled last month, and the UNC Board of Governors have given Folt and the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees until Nov. 15 to devise a plan for its fate.
As the Board of Trustees works to decide the statue’s fate, more than 340 faculty members have signed their name to a letter to Folt and the provost, asking that “Silent Sam” not return to campus.
The letter says the statue memorializes racism and asks Folt and the provost to demonstrate that they will not endorse or support white supremacy.
Students on campus Saturday said that while they respect the right of people to memorialize the statue, they are happy that it has been removed from campus.
“I am personally very happy that the statue is down. I wish this hadn’t happened in such a violent way, in such a disruptive way,” graduate student Susanna Harris said.
Harris said she wishes that the administration had listened to negative reaction to the “Silent Sam” statue over the past few years and removed the statue before it was toppled by protesters.
Jonathan Fitzgerald Fuller, Lauren Aucoin, Margarita Sitterson and Raul Acre Jimenez have all been charged with misdemeanor rioting and misdemeanor defacing a public monument in connection with the Aug. 20 protest where “Silent Sam” was toppled.
Since the statue fell, at least a dozen others have been arrested in connection with two subsequent protests on campus.
The group that brought flowers to the place where "Silent Sam" used to stand said they plan to return every Saturday with more bouquets.
