NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A judge has rejected a last-ditch effort to block the removal of a monument to a Confederate general in New Orleans.
At issue before state Judge Kern Reese on Wednesday was whether the city owns the monument honoring Confederate Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard. The statue is located at the entrance to New Orleans City Park. Those who don't want it removed argued that it belongs to a park board, and therefore the city has no authority to remove it.
The statue is one of three monuments to Confederate leaders slated for removal in New Orleans. A fourth, the Liberty Place monument, was removed in the dead of night without advance notice last month due to threats of violence.
That monument honored a rebellion by whites who battled a biracial Reconstruction-era government in New Orleans.
– by AP Reporter Kevin McGill