Demonstrators line up over Confederate monument in NC county

PITTSBORO, N.C. — PITTSBORO, N.C. (AP) - Police officers and barricades were in place as people for and against the removal of a Confederate monument in a North Carolina county stood on opposite sides of the street.

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Media outlets report there were demonstrations on Saturday near the Chatham County Courthouse, where the monument has stood for over a century.

Monument supporter Barry Isenhour said the statue respects American veterans, but opponent Robert Finch said it was installed to intimidate the black community.

Chatham's commissioners voted 4-1 in August to ask a United Daughters of the Confederacy chapter to have a plan by Oct. 1 to remove the statute. The county let the UDC install the statute in 1907. Without a plan, the county will declare it a public trespass by Nov. 1, making it eligible for removal.