"We will restore and reinstate the bronze statue of General Albert Pike, which was toppled and vandalized during the riots in June 2020," the US National Park Service (NPS) said on 4/8.
According to the NPS, this move supports two executive orders issued by President Donald Trump at the beginning of his second term: building a safe and beautiful Washington, D.C., and restoring truth to American history.
The agency stated that the statue of General Pike has "been safely stored since it was toppled and is being restored." The reinstatement plan is expected to be completed by October.
The statue was erected in Washington, D.C. in 1901 by sculptor Gaetano Trentanove to honor Pike, a Confederate general in the American Civil War, but also a renowned poet and orator. It is the only Confederate monument in Washington, D.C.
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The statue of General Albert Pike in Washington, D.C. in 2017. Photo: WP |
The statue of General Albert Pike in Washington, D.C. in 2017. Photo: WP
After Abraham Lincoln's election as president in 1860, 11 slave states in the southern US seceded and formed the Confederate States of America, engaging in conflict with the Union, comprising the remaining 25 states that opposed slavery. The Civil War ended after Generals Robert E. Lee and Joseph Johnston surrendered to the Union in April 1865, freeing African Americans from slavery and granting them the right to vote for the first time in history.
During the protests following the police killing of George Floyd, a Black man in Minneapolis, Minnesota, dozens of protesters gathered at Judiciary Square in Washington, D.C. on 19/6/2020, using ropes to pull down the statue of General Pike. They chanted "Black Lives Matter" before dousing the statue with gasoline and setting it on fire.
Mr. Trump, then in his first term, criticized the capital police for inaction, merely watching as the statue was toppled and burned. "Those people should be arrested immediately. A disgrace to our country," he said.
During the 2020 protests, numerous monuments of Confederate generals and politicians were pulled down by protesters, seen as remnants of slavery in the US.
Huyen Le (AFP, Reuters)
