CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The controversial "Silent Sam" statue on the campus of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill has been toppled by protesters.
More than 300 people gathered at the Peace and Justice Plaza at about 7:30 on Monday evening before marching to the Confederate statue's base and calling for its removal. At 9 p.m., protesters had marched down Franklin Street before returning back to the statue's base. By 9:30 "Silent Sam" was down.
Last month, the school board said a 2015 state law prevented them from removing it from campus.
Students, faculty and alumni have called the statue a racist image and asked officials to remove it.
The statue was given to the university by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1909. It was erected in 1913.
“Around 9:20 p.m., a group from among an estimated crowd of 250 protesters brought down the Confederate monument on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill," university officials said in a statement. "Tonight’s actions were dangerous, and we are very fortunate that no one was injured. We are investigating the vandalism and assessing the full extent of the damage.”