Judge says Confederate statue will be moved after protest groups clash in Weatherford
A Parker County judge confirmed a Confederate statue will be moved from the county courthouse lawn following protests in Weatherford on Saturday, according to the county judge’s office.
The Weatherford Democrat first reported the judge’s announcement on Monday.
The statue of a Confederate soldier is owned by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, which already agreed to move the monument to another location. The relocation process was initially stalled because of confusion over whether UDC or Parker County owned the statue.
Parker County Judge Pat Deen said the statue will be moved from the lawn by the UDC as soon as UDC raises the funds to relocate it. The county cannot remove the statue because the county does not own it, the county judge’s office confirmed.
A grassroots movement in Weatherford campaigned to have the statue safely removed from the courthouse lawn in June, and the local chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy asked for the statue to be returned to them. The UDC sent a letter to the commissioners court on June 22 asking for the statue to be relocated.
However, the president of the Texas division of the UDC, Dorothy Norred, said the local chapter did not have the authority to send the letter and asked that it be disregarded. The county judge’s office looked through commissioner meeting minutes from 1903 to 1930 and determined that UDC, not Parker County, owns the statue.
The statue will be also discussed at a special agenda county commissioners’ meeting on Thursday, the judge’s office said.
Protest
On Saturday, protesters from Fort Worth and Weatherford planned a march to the Parker County Courthouse to demand the statue’s immediate removal. They were met with hundreds of counter-protesters, and several violent clashes were caught on video and shared on social media.
City of Weatherford spokesman Blake Rexroat said the city was “disheartened” by Saturday’s violence.
“From our perspective, it’s disheartening,” he said. “Our brand and image is tarnished. It’s not the image we want for the city of Weatherford. Hopefully we don’t see that again.”
Since the statue is on county property, city officials do not have jurisdiction to move it.
“We hope some action is taken by the county right now,” Rexroat said.
At the protest, a man punched a protest leader, another slapped a girl and pulled a knife, and another barreled into a line of protesters, according to the videos and the protest leaders.
The videos capture police arresting at least one man, but no details were available.
In another video, a man in a yellow shirt lunges forward and punches a protester in the face. Another angle of the incident showed the protester hit the man in the yellow shirt with an umbrella at some point.
The Parker County Sheriff’s Office made two arrests at Saturday’s protest, WPD Deputy Chief Chris Crawford told the Weatherford Democrat.
One of the men that was arrested is from White Settlement and was charged with disorderly conduct.
This story was originally published July 27, 2020 at 5:53 PM.
