Police Scramble As Group Organizes To Pull Down Confederate Statue ‘Silent Sam’

Police in Chapel Hill are scrambling to prepare after a group says that they will pull down the ‘Silent Sam’ Confederate statue.

‘Silent Sam’ Under Threat Of Removal From Anti-Monument Group And University

Chapel Hill, NC – Police are reacting swiftly to social media rumors and flyers about a rally at the ‘Silent Sam’ Confederate statue on the University of North Carolina campus.

A flyer was found that had been circulating throughout the campus, that promoted a rally at 7 PM on Tuesday night at the statue. Two lines of barricades were placed around the statue on Tuesday morning, according to ABC11.

UNC is asking students not to attend the rally, which is believed to have been promoted by “groups not affiliated with Carolina.”

The “Silent Sam” statue honors Confederate soldiers and faces toward Franklin Street.  University officials are worried due to its close proximity to resident halls, classrooms, and the financial aid building, and fear that a student could be hurt or university operations could be ‘extensively interrupted during the rally.’  The statue has been vandalized several times in the past.

Several University officials, including President Margaret Spellings, UNC Chancellor Margaret Folt, Board of Governors Chairperson Lou Bissette, N.C. Department of Public Safety Secretary Eric Hooks, and UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees Chair Haywood Cochrane, had sent a letter to North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper after what happened at Charlottesville, Virginia.  In their letter, they said:

‘UNC law enforcement believe’, “that it is only a matter of time before an attempt is made to pull down Silent Sam in much the same manner we saw in Durham. Based on our interactions with State and local law enforcement, including the State Bureau of Investigation, an attempt may occur at any time.” 

Governor Cooper issued a letter in response, that gave them permission to remove the statue if ‘UNC law enforcement believe’, “that it is only a matter of time before an attempt is made to pull down Silent Sam in much the same manner we saw in Durham.

Based on interactions with State and local law enforcement, officials “believe there is a real risk to public safety,” according to The Daily Tarheel.

He said that a 2015 law allows the university to take “immediate measures in such cases”, and referred to the recent statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee that had been removed from the entrance of Duke Chapel on Saturday, in an attempt to prevent situations from developing which lead to violence.

If a local government decides that they want to remove statues because they don’t want them up any more, then that’s one thing. But deciding to removing statues to appease violent terrorists is giving them what they want and encourages more threats of violence.

Do you think that statues should be removed to prevent violence? We’d like to hear from you. Please let us know in the comments.