North Carolina

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.

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.

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