Harrison County Confederate monument to remain on courthouse grounds
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MARSHALL, TX (KTBS) — The Confederate monument in downtown Marshall will remain on the grounds of the historical Harrison County Courthouse, according to a report in the Marshall News Messenger.
Harrison County commissioners Wednesday morning took no action on the possible relocation of the monument after Pct. 2 Commissioner Zephaniah Timmins made — and then rescinded — a motion to approve action that would have set the county on course to get approval from the Texas Historical Commission to relocate the statue.
Commissioners heard about an hour of impassioned comments from Harrison County residents on both sides of the issues after the meeting began.
County Judge Chad Sims limited participation in the public comment period to residents of the county.
As the agenda item came up, Harrison County Judge Chad Sims asked if anyone else wanted to speak about the issue.
Timmins, who is black, spoke, saying he had been talking to people in the county about the statue for years. He said he did not want to see history destroyed but he also did not want to keep a constant reminder of the oppression of his ancestors at the courthouse.
After he spoke, Sims read the resolution and asked if there was a motion to approve. Timmins offered the motion, but there was no second, prompting Timmins to withdraw his motion.
It was not immediately clear following the meeting why Timmins made and then withdrew the motion.
The call to peacefully remove and relocate the statue started back in June through a petition launched by Marshall Against Violence president, Demetria McFarland. McFarland began the petition to have the statue removed from the town square because she said its painful reminder of America’s dark history of slavery and ties to white supremacy.
Since McFarland’s June 24 presentation to the commissioners court, protests and demonstrations from both sides of the issue have taken place. Counter-protesters from “Save our Statue” have also addressed the commissioners court as well as supporters of McFarland’s movement, including “Educators of Public Service” — a diverse group of individuals got together to work toward a compromise.
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