What Is Silent Sam Statue? UNC Chapel Hill Confederate Monument Torn Down

Hundreds of protesters on Monday night toppled a statue of a Confederate soldier, known as “Silent Sam,” on University of North Carolina’s (UNC) campus in Chapel Hill. The protesters gathered at the campus were demanding the removal of the statue apart from supporting a student who was facing criminal charges for covering the sculpture with paint and her own blood.

More than 250 protesters initially gathered at the Peace and Justice Plaza around 7 p.m. EDT after which they started marching to the base of the statue. At 9.20 p.m. EDT, the statue was pulled down and the crowd began cheering. Some people even threw dirt on the statue as if to bury it.

Maya Little, a doctoral student who was facing charges for defacing the statue, spoke of a black man who was killed on the campus in the 1970s.

“It’s time to build monuments to honor those who have been murdered by white supremacy. It’s time to tear down Silent Sam. It’s time to tear down UNC’s institutional white supremacy,” Little said during the protest.

The Daily Beast reported someone threw a smoke bomb into the crowd which resulted in police arresting a protestor for “resisting, delaying and obstructing an officer.” The demonstrators then put up banners and large signs to cover up the statue.

Chapel Hill Police said the protesters moved up Franklin Street and blocked traffic. The road was then closed between Raleigh Street and Church Street until 9.20 p.m. EDT, ABC11 reported.

NBC-affiliated television station WRAL reported several protesters chanted “stand up, fight back" and "hey, hey, ho, ho, this racist statue has got to go.”

“Around 9:20 p.m., a group from among an estimated crowd of 250 protesters brought down the Confederate Monument on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Tonight’s actions were dangerous, and we are very fortunate that no one was injured. We are investigating the vandalism and assessing the full extent of the damage,” University of North Carolina issued a statement following the protest.

The statue was erected in 1913 by John Wilson in remembrance of students who served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. In the same year, the monument was given to the University by the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC).

"This monument is erected in memory of those students of this university who served in the armies of the Confederate States of America,” Bettie Jackson, a member of UDC, said at the monument's dedication.

The monument stood on McCorkle place, the University's upper quad, facing Franklin Street. According to the University’s website, Sam was "silent" as he did not carry ammunition due to which he was unable to fire his weapon.

The statue was used as a place for discussions about race relations in the campus. The cost of the monument is $7,500.

Some people who were charged in connection with pulling down a Confederate monument in Durham in 2017 were also a part of the protest.

"I'm supporting all the students here today. As someone who was tried and found not guilty of taking down a statue in Durham, I am here to support them in taking down this statue,” one of them said.

In August 2017, two protesters were arrested with misdemeanor charges during a similar protest for the removal of the statue from the University of North Carolina campus. Police officials had faced difficulty then in controlling the crowd of almost 800 protesters who chanted and marched for several hours.