Confederate Memorial Breaks During Removal (Video)

BRADENTON, FL — The decision to relocate Manatee County’s Confederate memorial in the interest of “public safety” turned out to be well-founded, the county announced Thursday afternoon. It seems the 8.5-ton granite monument’s spire was no longer securely affixed. It broke in two during the early morning move, a mishap that was caught on surveillance footage.

County Commissioners voted on Tuesday to remove the monument from its 1115 Manatee Ave. W. location in front of the courthouse after public outcry in the wake of a deadly protest in Charlottesville, Virginia. County crews decided it was best to remove the behemoth 22-foot-tall structure in the early morning hours Aug. 24 “to avoid foot traffic at the Courthouse and to prevent major traffic disruptions in downtown Bradenton,” the county explained in a media release.

While working on the removal, crews discovered a structural issue that had gone unnoticed.

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“After carefully securing the spire with lifting straps at 3:30 a.m., a crane slowly applied pressure to tighten the straps," the release explained. “As pressure was applied, it became evident that the spire was not completely attached to the base of the monument. The spire shifted in the straps and quickly fell to the ground and broke in two pieces.”

Based on how easy the shaft separated, the county says the monument was truly a potential safety hazard. A strong storm or pushing or pulling at just the right point may have made the spire topple all on its own, the county concluded.

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“We took every safety precaution to respectfully move this to a safe location,” said Charlie Bishop, the county's property management director. “Thankfully no one was hurt when the spire came down. We’re confident that it can be fully repaired and safely placed in a permanent location once the location is determined.”

The monument has been moved to an undisclosed location for safekeeping until the community and commissioners can agree upon “an equally prominent and respectful replacement location,” the county noted.

Tuesday’s vote to remove the monument came on the heels of Monday’s Unity March organized by the Black Lives Matter’s Manasota Chapter and other groups. The Confederate memorial was placed in front of the courthouse back in 1924. The project was funded by the Judah P. Benjamin chapter of the Daughters of the Confederacy.

BLM members and the other groups behind Monday's march said the statue was created “during of the most violently anti-black decades of the Jim Crow-era United States,” according to a statement released by BLM. “The statue is emblazoned at its base with a Confederate flag – a symbol of the Ku Klux Klan adopted in the early 20th century during its second wave.”

Monday’s Unity March and others like it sprung up across the country in the wake of the Aug. 12 “Unite the Right” rally in Virginia that left one counter-protester dead and has increased racial tensions across the country. The rally was planned by white supremacist groups, including the Ku Klux Klan, to protest the removal of a Confederate monument.

It is unclear how soon the county might begin working to find a new home for the monument.

The county has released video of the monument's removal. It may be viewed below:

Video and screenshot courtesy of Manatee County