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Rockdale County removes Confederate monument from courthouse

Updated  July 1, 2020 7:03am EDT
Equity and Inclusion
FOX 5 Atlanta

Confederate monument in Rockdale County removed

A Confederate monument in Rockdale County has now been removed.

ROCKDALE COUNTY, Ga. - Rockdale County has removed its Confederate monument from the heart of Olde Town Conyers to a more appropriate location.

That announcement came from Rockdale County Commission Chair Oz Nesbitt Sr. in a video message posted to the county's Facebook page on Tuesday.

“I’ve made an executive decision to remove the Confederate monument here on the courthouse property here in Rockdale County in the heart of Olde Town Conyers,” Nesbitt said in the video.

Rockdale County removes Confederate monument

The commission chair of Rockdale County said he made an executive decision to remove the Confederate monument near the courthouse.

The monument honoring the Confederate veterans has sat just off Maine Street between Court and Milstead Avenue next to the Rockdale County Courthouse since 1913.

A crowd gathered around the monument around 10 p.m. Tuesday as crews started to move it.

Crowd gathers around Rockdale County Confederate monument

The Rockdale County Commission Chair said he is removing the Confederate monument at the courthouse Tuesday evening.

Under Georgia state law, “No publicly owned monument honoring Confederate soldiers shall be relocated, removed or altered in any fashion.” No word on how the county plans to get around the law.