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University Condemns 'Unlawful and Dangerous' Action After Confederate Statue Is Torn Down by Protesters

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The statue was known as “Silent Sam,” but the echoes from its destruction are ringing loud and clear.

The chancellor of the University of North Carolina on Tuesday issued a statement that acknowledged how controversial the statue had been in recent years, but harshly criticized the protesters who pulled it down during a demonstration Monday.

“The monument has been divisive for years, and its presence has been a source of frustration for many people not only on our campus but throughout the community,” Chancellor Carol L. Folt wrote in the statement published on Twitter.

“However, last night’s actions were unlawful and dangerous, and we are very fortunate that no one was injured.”

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North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, issued his own statement that also acknowledged the anger the statue has attracted, but said the mob action had “no place in our communities.”

According to Fox News, the demonstration that eventually ended with the statue being pulled down started in the university’s plaza on the night before the first day of classes. After about two hours of speeches, a crowd of hundreds surrounded the statue and, eventually, toppled it.

Should there be criminal prosecutions for those who tore down the statue?

“It was all smiles and joy and dancing and jubilation, to be honest,” UNC graduate Jasmin Howard told The New York Times.

Howard said she was standing in the back of the crowd when the statue fell.

“It was really a joyous moment,” she told The Times.

But those commenting on social media weren’t convinced.

https://twitter.com/LarryLjackson8/status/1031882923916632065

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And others pointed out that no matter how dramatic the events of Monday might have appeared in news coverage of the statue’s destruction, it wasn’t going to end the debate about what it symbolized.

The reaction to the destruction of “Silent Sam” was still in its early stages on Wednesday.

But the echoes are likely to reverberate for a long time to come.

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Joe has spent more than 30 years as a reporter, copy editor and metro desk editor in newsrooms in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Florida. He's been with Liftable Media since 2015.
Joe has spent more than 30 years as a reporter, copy editor and metro editor in newsrooms in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Florida. He's been with Liftable Media since 2015. Largely a product of Catholic schools, who discovered Ayn Rand in college, Joe is a lifelong newspaperman who learned enough about the trade to be skeptical of every word ever written. He was also lucky enough to have a job that didn't need a printing press to do it.
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