Demolition crew removes Confederate monument in Henry County
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HENRY COUNTY, GA (WGCL) — A Confederate monument came down less than 24-hours after protesters gathered in McDonough Square demanding it not be removed.
Three weeks ago on July 7 the Henry County Board of Commissioners voted to remove the monument; however contracting issues prevented the planned July 27 removal.
Even without a demolition crew in sight, more than 200 people in favor of the monument remaining its place stood guard for hours on Monday night.
“I don’t think it’s the right move to bring it down,” and “It’s really just a part of this community is part of our history,” said some who spoke with CBS46.
Also opposed to the removal is the Sons of Confederate Veterans. The organization says it filed a restraining order and a complaint for damages and injunctive relief to prevent the removal.
“Sons of Confederate Veterans condemns in the strongest terms possible the vandalism, removal and defacement of any Veteran’s monuments, memorials, or grave markers and will assist law enforcement in any way possible to vigorously pursue the prosecution of these heinous violations to the fullest extent of the law,” said the organization in a released statement.
The statue which features a soldier at rest was erected in 1911; it is one of several removed from across the state including metro counties DeKalb and Rockdale.
The base of the monument reads:
“To our Confederate soldiers, those who fell in fiercest fighting and sleep beneath the sod of every southern state. Those who have passed away in the years of peace, and whose ashes now hallow Old Henry’s hill sides, those who like a benediction, still limp in our midst. May God preserve forever in our hearts, their memory and in all minds, a knowledge of their motives and their cause.”
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