Critics question decision to remove monument before court ruling

May 21—The decision to remove a Confederate monument from Hanover Square in downtown Brunswick earlier this week may have been premature, defenders of the statue claim.

The Georgia Supreme Court is considering arguments from a Civil War heritage preservation group claiming it has the right to sue over the removal or to stop the removal of Confederate monuments.

Bennie Williams, commander of the local camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, said city officials knew the Georgia Supreme Court was scheduled to hear arguments Thursday regarding the removal of the monuments but decided to remove the monument that stood in Hanover Square since 1902 anyway.

"The hearing will determine if we have standing," he said. "That's what makes this so irresponsible. We had a meeting with the city less than a month ago."

If the Supreme Court rules to allow legal challenges to the removal of Confederate monuments, Williams said a jury trial regarding the monument in Brunswick will be requested.

"Our lawsuit is still active," he said.

Williams said the city should have notified him about the intent to take down the monument to give his organization an opportunity to remove it.

"They say it's our monument, but they took it down," he said. "The city ordinance required them to notify us and ask us to remove it."

In a statement issued earlier this week following the statue's removal, the city said it did notify the owners of the plans to remove it. The city said it "provided ample opportunity for the owners to work with the city to relocate the monument," but that its offer was rejected.

Williams said a state law protects monuments honoring veterans, including Confederate veterans who are considered to be American soldiers.

"The law prevents them from removing the monument," he said. "This is a monument to American veterans. They violated state law."

That law, however, applies only to publicly owned memorials. In this case, the local Sons of Confederate Veterans have claimed ownership of the statue.

Some citizens called for the monument to be removed from the square in the wake of the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery. The monument had been vandalized in the wake of protests, prompting commissioners to create a committee tasked with reaching agreement on how to handle the issue.

The nine-person panel could not reach consensus and voted 5-4 to keep the monument in the existing location with interpretive signs and plaques to provide context about the role Black soldiers stationed on St. Simons Island played during the American Civil War.

The recommendation, which was not binding, was rejected in November 2020 by commissioners, who voted 4-1 to remove the monument. Commissioner Johnny Cason cast the dissenting vote.

Later that month, a civil complaint to keep the Confederate Veterans Memorial in its current location was filed by Williams. He said the soldier at the top of the monument has the rank of private, which symbolizes the men who sacrificed the most during the war.

Cason, in a phone interview Friday, agreed with Williams that the city should have waited for the court ruling before removing the monument.

"My recommendation was to wait and see," Cason said. "They have chosen to make a decision against the committee to take it down. They knew the whole time."