Guns banned, Lee Circle streets blocked for Confederate monument demonstrations
Source: NOLA.com
Guns will be banned and streets around Lee Circle closed Sunday at mid-day (May 7) for demonstrations around the pending removal of three Confederate monuments in New Orleans, Police Superintendent Michael Harrison said. Authorities will be keeping a close eye on Lee Circle, Congo Square and the Jefferson Davis monument because large crowds are expected and some people have made "credible threats" to public safety.
At a news conference Saturday night, Harrison said officers will be out "in force" to monitor the protests. He said Lee Circle and one block of every street intersecting it will be closed to traffic. Service on the St. Charles Avenue streetcar line, which loops around the circle, will be suspended at about 11 a.m. "for a certain time," he said. He advised motorists to avoid the area.
Due to threats, Harrison said, police plan to separate pro- and anti-monument protestors at Lee Circle, Congo Square and the Jefferson Davis monument. He did not elaborate on how officers would do so. Nor did he elaborate on the threats had been made, other than to say they have been made against both groups and individuals.
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Tension in New Orleans has mounted since the Battle of Liberty Place obelisk was removed early on the morning of April 24, part of an initiative by Mayor Mitch Landrieu, backed by the City Council, to rid New Orleans of what some consider to be symbols of a racist society. Supporters consider the monuments part of history, and their removal an attempt to erase it.
Read more: http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/05/confederate_monuments_police_prepare.html#incart_2box_nola_river_orleans_news
I hope this doesn't become violent... but it very well may blow up.
paleotn
(17,781 posts)that we're the only nation I know of that allows monuments commemorating traitors? I applaud New Orleans for removing these monuments to an evil past.
mdbl
(4,972 posts)Don't want a bunch of armed loonies protesting.
benpollard
(197 posts)"Supporters consider the monuments part of history, and their removal an attempt to erase it. "
Nobody's trying to "erase" history. The monuments will be placed in a museum or some other appropriate place.