Demonstrators gathered at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill campus Monday night achieved a decades-long goal for those opposed to public displays of Confederate statues: They toppled “Silent Sam,” a monument dedicated to fallen Civil War-era soldiers.
A crowd of about 250 students, faculty and local residents carrying banners that condemned white supremacy stormed the bronze sculpture and, using ropes, brought it crashing down from its century-old pedestal. It was the culmination of a protest that began earlier in the evening, on the eve of the first day of classes.
“I feel liberated — like I’m a part of something big. It’s literally my fourth day here,” first-year Natalia Walker told The Daily Tar Heel. “This is the biggest thing I’ve ever been a part of in my life.”
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