Following the Unite the Right rally in 2017, the NAACP and the National Action Network (NAN) called on the government of South Carolina to repeal a law that barred the removal of public monuments and memorials, including Confederate monuments. On August 13, a day after the Charlottesville car attack during the Unite the Right rally, NAN held a rally at the "Defenders" monument. On August 16, 2017, another rally in Charleston calling for the removal of the Calhoun and "Defenders" monuments was attended by about 100 people. The event was organized by the local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, who also called for a repeal of the act barring the monuments' removals. In response, Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg announced plans to "add context" to several monuments in the city (including the "Defenders" monument) with the installation of plaques that provide additional information on the monuments and their backgrounds. In June 2019, the monument was vandalized again, with a "red paint like substance" splattered onto the monument. Two individuals were later arrested for the act.