Crowd Rallies to Keep Confederate Memorial in Downtown St. Augustine

Hundreds gathered at the Plaza de la Constitucion on Sunday to try and save the Oldest City’s Confederate memorial. They carried American and Confederate flags and marched around the monument, now behind a construction fence.

Last month, St. Augustine’s City Commission voted 3-2 to have the monument removed. A study is underway to study how a stone that’s over a century old can be safely moved.

Ginger DuPont added her American flag to the fence that now surrounds the memorial.

“I know that there are people that share differences of opinion about it,” DuPont said. “I’ve never felt that way about it and, all the time that I’ve lived here, it’s just really saddening to see the division across our community.

A group called Defend St. Augustine has more than 300 signatures on a petition to ask the commission to reconsider its decision to remove the stone honoring the city’s Confederate war dead.

“If we erase our history, we’re doomed to repeat it,” Mark McQueen said. “I believe it should be brought to a vote to the people. This is the people’s.”

There is also a lawsuit pending from the Sons and Daughters of the Confederacy trying to stop it from happening. The 300 plaintiffs believe it may go before a judge this week.