UNC officials condemn statue toppling
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. • North Carolina university officials and a former governor condemned the toppling of a century-old Confederate memorial on the state’s flagship campus by protesters who said its presence on campus was rooted in racism.
The University of North Carolina system’s president and the chairman of the Board of Governors on Tuesday promised a full criminal investigation of the Monday night protest that brought down the statue known as “Silent Sam.”
The bronze figure of an anonymous rebel soldier was pulled down from its tall stone pedestal by protesters using ropes and banners to mask their action.
“The safety and security of our students, faculty, and staff is paramount,” President Margaret Spellings and board chairman Harry Smith said in a statement.
“And the actions last evening were unacceptable, dangerous, and incomprehensible. We are a nation of laws_and mob rule and the intentional destruction of public property will not be tolerated.”
Meanwhile, former Gov. Pat McCrory compared those who helped topple the statue to Nazis.
The Charlotte Observer reports that McCrory asked Tuesday if the protesters are any different from Nazis who tore down statues and burned books in the 1920s and 1930s.
The statue, erected by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1913, had been under constant, costly police surveillance after being vandalized in recent months.
Protesters appeared to outwit officers by raising four tall black banners on bamboo poles, along with more banners on the ground, concealing efforts to tie a rope around the sculpture.
They then split into two groups, with most marching away from the statue as small group remained behind.
The banners were up for about an hour before the groups converged and yanked the statue down, according to videos.
Around midnight, workers covered the fallen statue with a tarp, lifted it with a backhoe and put it into the back of a truck for a trip to an undisclosed storage location.
North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore said the protesters should be arrested and prosecuted “to make clear that mob rule and acts of violence will not be tolerated in our state.”
Police stand guard after the confederate statue known as “Silent Sam” was toppled by protesters on campus at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C., late Monday.