Takiyah Thompson
Takiyah Thompson
Tearing Down Confederate Monument and Arrest
On August 14th at a protest in Durham, North Carolina in the aftermath of Unite the Right, Thompson brought a ladder to the Confederate's Soldier's Monument, climbed it to the top and tied a rope around it's neck. Protesters then tore the statue down and started kicking it. [2]At a news conference Thompson backed her actions by saying:
āIām tired of white supremacy keeping its foot on my neck and the necks of people who look like me...
That statue glorifies the conditions that oppressed people live in, and it had to go.ā
Thompson faces faces vandalism misdemeanor and felony charges, including for property damage and participation in a riot.
North Carolina has a law protecting public monuments from being torn down without the permission of state officials.
The current Governor, Roy Cooper, is in favor of that law changing.