Baltimore Removes Confederate Statues; Mayor Cites Public Safety
The removals came as other community leaders around the country, in cities from Gainesville, Fla. to Lexington, Ky., called for their Confederate monuments to come down on the heels of the weekend’s violent clashes between white supremacists
and counter-protesters over a Robert E. Lee statue that is set for removal in Charlottesville, Va.
“I think any city that has Confederate statues are concerned about violence occurring in their city,” Ms. Pugh said.
“Stonewall” Jackson Monument, a double equestrian statue of the Confederate generals erected in 1948; the Confederate Soldiers
and Sailors Monument, erected in 1903; and the Roger B. Taney Monument, erected in 1887.
BALTIMORE — Statues dedicated to Confederate heroes were swiftly removed across the city in the small hours of Wednesday
morning, just days after violence broke out over the removal of a similar monument in neighboring Virginia.
At the news conference, Ms. Pugh said she had spoken with the president of the City Council
on Monday, the same day the council voted unanimously to remove the four monuments.