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Protest Against St. Augustine Confederate Monuments Planned For Fourth

Wikimedia Commons
UF-controlled monument honoring Confederate General William Loring in St. Augustine.

A group that wants two Confederate monuments taken down in St. Augustine is planning to demonstrate during the city’s Fourth of July fireworks display Wednesday night.

Reverend Ron Rawls, of St. Paul AME Church in St. Augustine, said the purpose is to call attention to the issue by disrupting tourism in the tourist-dependent city.

“We’ll be very loud and very visible and very vocal but we won’t be violent—just not to allow them to go on with business as usual and to celebrate uninterrupted.”

Rawls said his group’s demonstration will start around 6 p.m.

The St. Augustine City Commission voted last year to keep the memorial to fallen Confederate soldiers that stands in the plaza downtown and tasked a committee with providing historical context for the memorial.

The University of Florida has also said no to taking down its monument on Cordova Street in St. Augustine that honors Confederate General William Loring.

Cyd Hoskinson began working at WJCT on Valentine’s Day 2011.