NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A city news release says workers are preparing to take down a statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis in New Orleans, the second of four monuments to Confederate era figures the City Council has voted to remove.
Officials had refused to give advance public notice of Thursday morning’s removal, citing threats of violence against contractors and workers involved in the effort. The Davis statue has been the scene of protests by supporters and opponents of the monuments’ removal.
Late last month, the first monument — a 35-foot-tall granite obelisk — was removed by masked workers under cover of darkness. The obelisk was a tribute to whites who battled a biracial Reconstruction government installed in New Orleans after the Civil War.
Also slated for removal are statues of Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and P.G.T Beauregard.
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