Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin on Monday night kept his promise, with the City removing the 115-year-old Confederate Soldiers and Sailors monument in Linn Park.
The City methodically removed the obelisk-like monument, starting with the top.
The middle piece followed next, with the bottom portion being removed shortly after midnight.
A crane placed each piece, together towering over 50-feet, on a flatbed truck to be hauled away. Only the base remains in Linn Park as of Tuesday morning.
Woodfin earlier on Monday stressed that the City intended on preserving the monument for display in a museum or for an organization like the Daughters of the Confederacy to take possession of it.
The removal of the monument was broadcast live on Facebook by every major local TV network in the area.
You can watch respective livestreams by WBRC here, ABC 33/40 here, CBS 42 here and WVTM 13 here.
The monument was damaged and defaced by vandals on Sunday evening.
The City of Birmingham is expected to face a onetime fine of $25,000 for removing the monument in apparent violation of the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act.
“In order to prevent more civil unrest in our city, I think it is very imperative we remove this statue,” Woodfin on Monday said.
“That has a cost to it. I understand that the AG’s office can bring a civil suit against the city. If there is a judgment rendered from a judge, then we should be held accountable,” continued the mayor.
“I believe I am willing to accept that, because that is a lower cost than civil unrest in our city,” added Woodfin.
Monday’s removal of the statue culminates efforts by two City administrations since 2017 to do so.
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Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
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