A group of mostly white protesters in Durham, North Carolina took matters into their own hands Monday night when they destroyed a statue of an unknown Confederate soldier outside of the city's courthouse, and video was posted on social media as the group celebrated.
#BREAKING Protesters in #Durham topple confederate monument downtown pic.twitter.com/a3BNIavyxC
— Derrick Lewis (@DerrickQLewis) August 14, 2017
The group gathered in downtown Durham in protest of the violent white supremacist rallies in Charlottesville, Virginia where James Alex Fields Jr. allegedly plowed his car into a crowd of counter-protesters and innocent bystanders, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injuring 19 others.
Protesters in Durham chanted "No hoods. No KKK. No fascist USA," as someone pulled the rope that had been wrapped around the statue, causing it to topple to the ground. The videos posted on Twitter show that no one was injured during the incident and no one in the mostly white crowd was arrested at the time. Not surprisingly, there was no riot gear, tear gas or barricades in sight.
The crowd of protesters then moved to an intersection in downtown Durham blocking the street before proceeding through the city carrying signs that denounce white supremacy.
Before and after pictures of the confederate monument outside the old Durham County courthouse. pic.twitter.com/6fZdBShCnr
— Derrick Lewis (@DerrickQLewis) August 15, 2017
Protesters have moved to the intersection of E. Main & Roxboro streets blocking traffic. #Durham
pic.twitter.com/TZvx614RBY— Derrick Lewis (@DerrickQLewis) August 14, 2017
#Durham protesters continue their march downtown in an effort to "smash white supremacy" #Charlottesville
pic.twitter.com/MKHjS3HrDT— Derrick Lewis (@DerrickQLewis) August 14, 2017
Protestor confronting #Durham deputies, chanting "cops and Klan go hand in hand" pic.twitter.com/TtxOKxQoM1
— Sarah Willets (@Sarah_Willets) August 15, 2017
Authorities were on the scene of the reportedly planned protest in front of the monument. County general services removed the destroyed statue Monday evening.
#Durham County general services about to haul fallen statue away. Told will be held in warehouse for now til they figure out what to do w it pic.twitter.com/MW3DGu8YFz
— Sarah Willets (@Sarah_Willets) August 15, 2017
The Durham protest is one of many that have broken out in cities across the United States after white supremacists, white nationalists, KKK and other groups gathered in Charlottesville for a rally protesting the city's planned removal of a Confederate statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee. North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper responded on Twitter saying there are better ways to remove controversial statues in the state.
The racism and deadly violence in Charlottesville is unacceptable but there is a better way to remove these monuments #durham – RC
— Governor Roy Cooper (@NC_Governor) August 15, 2017
Later Monday evening, all was quiet in front of where the statue was once located. But the activities of the evening didn't end without three black protesters taking an epic photo.