Just hours after San Antonio's City Council voted to relocate the Confederate memorial in Travis Park, city officials began the process of removing the statue in the middle of the night.
Contractors communicated via radio as they tested to see if the top of the Confederate monument could be lifted.
“Try to take him straight up,” one radio operator said. “10-4. Coming up easy,” another responded.
And the statue separated from its monument.
A crowd of about two dozen people chanted “Hey, hey, ho, ho, that racist statue has got to go,” as a crane lifted the statue of an unknown Confederate soldier from its pedestal.
BREAKING: The statue on the Travis Park Confederate Monument has been removed. pic.twitter.com/hwgP2Gybl4
— Joey Palacios 😷 (@Joeycules) September 1, 2017
Allie Segura waited until 2:00 AM to see it removed. “I think it’s really important we move past this disgusting display of white supremacy and toxicity.”
But Cliff Healey wanted it to stay. He says it's part of history. “What are you going to do next? Tear down the damn Alamo? Come on, this is flipping ridiculous.”
The park itself was fenced off from the public. San Antonio Police chief William McManus said that was for safety. “We plan for the worst case scenario and we don’t want to end up like Charlottesville.”
.@SATXPolice Chief McManus briefs the media on the removal of the Travis Park Confederate Monument. @TPRNews pic.twitter.com/dOclzKpBpb
— Joey Palacios 😷 (@Joeycules) September 1, 2017
City officials said the monument will be relocated to a museum.
