Gwinnett DA Throws Support Behind Moving Confederate Monument

GWINNETT COUNTY, GA — Longtime Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter — who usually reserves public comment on politics — on Sunday threw his support behind removing a Confederate monument from the Lawrenceville square.

“I encourage Gwinnett’s Board of Commissioners to join me and many other leaders in supporting the removal of this monument and vote soon to relocate it to the Heritage Center,” Porter wrote in a statement released Sunday night by his office.

Porter, who attended a demonstration Sunday calling for the monument’s removal, joins Gwinnett County Solicitor General Brian Whiteside in pushing to move it to the Gwinnett County Environmental and Heritage Center, a museum near the Mall of Georgia.

“Some people might be surprised by my attendance and support of this,” Porter wrote. “However, as Gwinnett’s district attorney, it is my responsibility to represent every citizen and ensure that there is an equitable distribution of justice for all. My approach to this office is that it’s for the people, and this monument does not represent the people of Gwinnett.”

In late June, Whiteside formally requested that the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners move the monument, in part for its own protection. “Structures similar to the one in downtown Lawrenceville must be preserved in a museum to fuel intellectual discussions for future generations,” Whiteside said.

The monument was donated to Gwinnett County in 1993 by the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

Two Gwinnett County Democrats already have targeted the monument for removal. According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, county commission candidate Kirkland Carden and 7th District congressional candidate Nabilah Islam started an online petition to replace the statue with "a new monument acknowledging Lawrenceville's history of lynchings." By Monday morning, the petition had more than 2,000 signatures.

Porter, who was first elected as district attorney in 1992, flirted with becoming a Democrat last year before announcing that he would run again as a Republican. He has said that if he’s re-elected in 2020, it will be his final term.

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