Protesters clash, arrests mount after toppling of Confederate statue at UNC-Chapel Hill

Protesters clashed Saturday at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill — resulting in several arrests — a few days after a group toppled a Confederate soldier’s bronze statue that was erected on campus more than a century ago.

Some protesters held Confederate flags while others chanted, “White supremacy’s got to go, hey hey ho ho!” Police arrested seven people, many of whom were charged with assault.

The arrests capped off a week of simmering tension that began Monday evening, when dozens of protesters showed up at UNC-Chapel Hill, gathered around the “Silent Sam” statue of the anonymous Confederate soldier and pulled it down with a rope. University spokesman Randy Young said police have filed warrants on three people for damaging the statue. These three, who aren’t affiliated with the university, are each facing misdemeanor riot and misdemeanor defacing of a public monument charges. Young said he can’t confirm if the three had been arrested.