Officials in St. Louis, Mo., removed the top part of a Confederate monument located in its Forest Park Thursday morning as part of a project expected to continue through June.
The monument contains graffiti with slogans like “Black Lives Matter,” “White Silence Is Violence,” “End Racism,” and “FTP,” presumably short for “Fuck The Police,” reported St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
WATCH:
The top of the Confederate monument in #StLouis was just removed by crane. @kmoxnews pic.twitter.com/7VjqfSfFP1
— Michael Calhoun (@michaelcalhoun) June 8, 2017
St. Louis’ Confederate memorial stood at 38 feet tall and weighed over 40 tons. City Treasurer Tishaura Jones reports that she has privately raised $16,000 out of $25,000 to fund the removal, but St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson expects some public funds will be needed.
“It is our position the city has the authority to take down the statue,” said a statement from Krewson’s office obtained by KMOX. “It is in one of our parks and we have the authority to regulate what is in our parks.”
A committee will discuss a bill Thursday evening proposing the removal of all Confederate memorials in St. Louis parks within 120 days of the potential law’s institution and ban the future erection of Confederate memorials in the city’s public parks.
St. Louis’ removal of the statue comes during a vigorous debate over Confederate monuments nationwide. In May, New Orleans removed its four Confederate statues and Alabama passed a bill defending the memorials.
The Daily Caller News Foundation reached out to the mayor for further comment pertaining to public opinion and the reasoning behind the statue’s removal, but received none in time for publication.
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