Salisbury group wants Confederate statue removed

SALISBURY, N.C. — A group has formally asked the city of Salisbury to get involved in removing a Confederate statue from downtown that has been a point of controversy for years now.

The statue sits in a median at the intersection of Church and Inness streets.

Eyewitness News reporter Tina Terry asked leaders in Salisbury how they plan to respond.

This statue is of an angel holding a Confederate soldier.

It's just one of more than 100 Confederate statues across the state the group Salisbury Indivisible wants taken down.

"We need to have it removed,” organizer Renee MacNutt said. “We need to not see it on the entrance to the city."

She said the statue represents a dark part of U.S. history.

"It's a part of violence, oppression and enslaving people and that's not a part that needs to be out in the public," MacNutt said.

The group sent a letter to city council last week formally asking leaders to "work swiftly with the private owner to relocate the monument."

Two years ago, during a similar debate, city leaders said the statue and the piece of land it sits on are both owned by the Daughters of the Confederacy.

They've also said a 2015 state law could prohibit them from removing the statue.

City leaders said Monday that they're still reviewing the most recent request and they said they have "engaged our local attorney to review land ownership."

Some don’t want the monument removed.

"It's been there a long time and it (is not) bothering (anybody) so why take it down?" resident Bill Elliot said.

Salisbury Indivisible has said if that 2015 state law is a roadblock, it wants city leaders to petition the state to have the statue removed.

Cox Media Group