Lexington Plans Lawsuit To Remove Confederate Statue

Lexington officials say they're taking legal action to remove the city's Confederate statue from its prominent spot on Main Street.

Mayor Newell Clark says the statue is a threat to public safety and a burden to uptown business owners.

He says he doesn't want the monument destroyed, just moved. He suggested the new park at the Civil War-era Fort York as a possible destination.

Clark says he has heard in recent weeks from people on both sides of the monument debate.

“I get asked all the time: ‘When is this going to end? When are you going to quit appeasing them?' And we know what those citizens are meaning when they refer to ‘them,'” he says. “My answer to that is, when is racism going to end?”

Protesters and supporters have gathered at the square for more than two months, and police say they've made a dozen arrests during that time. Police Chief Mark Sink says the department has spent about $40,000 in overtime pay to patrol the area since June.

The statue is in the heart of the city's main square but is on land owned by Davidson County. Clark says county leaders have not worked with the city to resolve the issue. Lexington officials this week authorized the city's attorney to take legal action against the county to have them remove it. Davidson officials responded with a statement of their own, saying North Carolina law prohibits them from relocating the statue and criticizing Lexington officials for using taxpayer money to file a lawsuit against the county during a pandemic.