Story highlights Confederate statue toppled during Monday protest in Durham, North Carolina

Investigators using video to find suspects, sheriff says

(CNN) Seven people have been arrested in connection with the toppling of a Confederate statue during a protest this week in Durham, North Carolina, authorities said.

The Confederate Soldiers Monument was pulled down during a Monday protest at the old Durham County Courthouse to show solidarity with anti-racist activists after last weekend's deadly clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia

Takiya Fatima Thompson, 22, was charged Tuesday with two felonies -- participation in a riot with property damage in excess of $1,500 and inciting others to riot -- and two misdemeanors -- disorderly conduct by injury to a statue and damage to property, the Durham County Sheriff's Office said. She was held on $10,000 bond.

On Wednesday, Dante Emmanuel Strobino, 35, Ngoc Loan Tran, 24, and Peter Gull Gilbert, 39, were arrested on the same charges, the sheriff's office said.

Three more alleged participants -- Aaron Alexander Caldwell, Raul Mauro Arce Jimenez and Elena Everett -- were arrested Thursday. They were each charged with one felony -- inciting a riot -- and three misdemeanors -- injury to personal property less than $200, injury to real property and defacing a public monument.

Read More </s> Protesters tore down a Confederate monument that stood since 1924 in Durham, North Carolina Monday evening, then took to the streets to protest the white supremacist rally which led to three dead and 19 injured in Charlottesville, Virginia over the weekend.

The planned protest was scheduled to meet around the Confederate monument, which was located on county property outside the Durham courthouse and has been the center of controversy for years. The base of the monument read “In memory of the boys who wore the gray,” and has been defaced with spray paint before. Protestors have attempted to use policy to take down the statue in the past, but North Carolina laws have prevented any changes to historical monuments. CBS North Carolina received an email from Durham County spokeswoman Dawn Dudley, explaining:

“Due to a North Carolina state law passed a few years ago, Durham County is prohibited from removing or making substantive alteration to historical monuments and memorials. I share this to say that there is a statute in place making the efforts you mention below difficult to move forward. I would assume that the only thing possible are steps to reverse the law.”

Eyewitness accounts detailed how a woman climbed the monument then put a rope around it until the crowd pulled to topple it over. The protesters then took to the streets to continue their march against white supremacy and hate. </s> A monument to pro-slavery forces is destroyed, in the wake of clashes in Charlottesville.

No arrests have been reported in connection with the incident in Durham, North Carolina. </s> Protesters in North Carolina have toppled a long-standing statue of a Confederate soldier.

Activists on Monday evening used a rope to pull down the monument outside a Durham courthouse. Video footage posted online shows protesters – some white, some black – kicking the crumpled bronze statue as dozens of people in the crowd cheered and chanted.

READ MORE: Anti-Nazi propaganda film goes viral after Charlottesville violence

The Durham protest was in response to a white nationalist rally held in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend. One woman was killed Saturday after one of the white nationalists drove his car into a group of peaceful counterprotesters.

A United Daughters of the Confederacy website says the Confederate Soldiers Monument was erected in 1924. </s> A crowd of people gathered in downtown Durham, North Carolina, on Monday night to witness the toppling of a Confederate monument by protesters who pulled down the statue with a rope. Protesters said destroying the monument was their answer to the deadly attack by a white supremacist in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend.

Leoneda Inge (@LeonedaInge) from Here & Now contributor WUNC reports. </s> RICHMOND, Va. (Reuters) - The mayor of Charlottesville called on Friday for a special session of Virginia’s legislature to let localities decide the fate of Confederate monuments like the statue at the center of a far-right rally last week that turned deadly.

Mayor Mike Signer issued his appeal amid an increasingly contentious debate over what to do with memorials to Confederate figures, who fought for the preservation of slavery during the U.S. Civil War, that are seen by opponents as offensive.

In what has become the biggest domestic crisis of his presidency, Donald Trump has been sharply criticized, including by fellow Republicans, for blaming Charlottesville’s violence not only on the white nationalist rally organizers, but also the anti-racism activists who opposed them.

“Whether they go to museums, cemeteries, or other willing institutions, it is clear that they no longer can be celebrated in shared civic areas,” Signer said in a statement, referring to the statues. “We can, and we must, respond by denying the Nazis and the KKK (Ku Klux Klan) and the so-called alt-right the twisted totem they seek.”

A 32-year-old woman, Heather Heyer, was killed and several people were injured when a man crashed a car into a crowd of counter-protesters at last Saturday’s rally.

A 20-year-old Ohio man has been charged with her murder. On Friday, he was handed five new felony counts of malicious wounding, with the charges related to serious injuries inflicted on people hit by the vehicle, Charlottesville police said.

Some attendees at the rally were heavily armed, and Signer said in his statement he was also calling for legislation that would let localities ban open or concealed carry of weapons at some public events. And he said he wanted to find a way to memorialize Heyer’s name and legacy.

Heyer’s mother told a memorial service on Thursday that her daughter’s killers tried to silence her. “Well guess what? You just magnified her,” Susan Bro told the service.

Signer said that memorial was a profound turning point for him, and that it made him realize the significance of the city’s statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee had changed.

“Its historical meaning now, and forevermore, will be a magnet for terrorism,” the mayor said in his statement.

The statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee sits at the center of the park formerly dedicated to him, the site of recent violent demonstrations in Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S. August 18, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

RALLYING POINTS FOR RACISTS

Also on Friday, Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe signed an executive order temporarily banning protests at the Lee Monument in downtown Richmond while new regulations governing demonstrations are put in place, the governor’s office said.

In many places, Confederate monuments have become rallying points for white nationalists. Efforts to remove many such statues have been stepped up since the Charlottesville rally, which was called by far-right groups to protest against plans to remove the Lee statue.

In Maryland on Friday, authorities took down a statue of a 19th century chief justice, Roger Taney, who wrote an infamous 1857 ruling known as the Dred Scott decision that reaffirmed slavery and said black people could not be U.S. citizens.

Trump on Thursday decried the removal of such monuments, drawing stinging rebukes from fellow Republicans in a controversy that inflamed racial tensions nationwide.

The mother of Heyer, the woman killed in Charlottesville, said in a television interview on Friday that after Trump’s comments, “I’m not talking to the president now.”

Slideshow (2 Images)

“You can’t wash this one away by shaking my hand and saying, ‘I’m sorry.’ I’m not forgiving him for that,” Susan Bro told ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

There are more than 1,500 symbols of the Confederacy in public spaces across the United States, with 700 of those being monuments and statues, the Southern Poverty Law Center said.

The large majority of these were erected long after the Civil War ended in 1865, according to the center, with many going up early in the 20th century amid a backlash among segregationists against the civil rights movement.

More than half a dozen have been taken down since Saturday. </s> (CNN)A peaceful protest organized to stand in solidarity with Charlottesville, Virginia, took a turn Monday when protesters toppled a Confederate statue in Durham, North Carolina.

Demonstrators gathered at the old Durham County courthouse around the Confederate Soldiers Monument. The monument, dedicated in 1924, depicts a soldier holding a gun on top of a concrete pillar. The pillar is engraved “In memory of the boys who wore gray.” </s> Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Footage captured the moment a car rammed into a crowd of counter-protesters in Charlottesville

One person has died and 19 others were injured when a car rammed a crowd of people opposing a far-right rally in the US state of Virginia, police say.

Earlier, street brawls erupted between white nationalists planning to attend the march and counter-protesters.

The mayor of Charlottesville, where the now-cancelled rally was taking place, said he was "heartbroken" at the death.

President Donald Trump has condemned the violence, and local officials have declared a state of emergency.

The car involved in the ramming incident was later located a few streets away and the driver is in custody, the city's police chief said.

In addition to those injured there, the Charlottesville Police Department said another 15 people were injured in other violence related to the far-right march.

Late in the afternoon, a Virginia State Police helicopter, crashed in woodland south-west of the city, killing two people; however, there has been no indication that this was related to the violence.

The "Unite the Right" march was called to protest against plans to remove a statue of a general who had fought for the pro-slavery Confederacy during the US Civil War.

'Car backed up and hit again'

Video posted on social media showed a car ploughing at speed into several slow-moving vehicles, which were surrounded by a densely packed crowd.

A witness said one girl got "tore up" after the car "backed up and hit again".

Officials said the driver had been taken into custody.

Image copyright AFP Image caption A number of people received first-aid after a vehicle drove into a crowd

Image copyright AFP Image caption Witnesses said the car backed up and hit the crowd more than once

Police earlier fired tear gas against demonstrators and said that arrests had been made after a declaration of unlawful assembly at Emancipation Park.

The far-right protesters, some waving Confederate flags, carrying shields and wearing helmets, are angry about the planned removal of a statue of General Robert E Lee from Charlottesville.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The US president ignored questions over whether his response went far enough

Gen Lee commanded the pro-slavery Confederate forces in the US Civil War of 1861-65.

The New York Times reports that some of them were chanting "You will not replace us," and "Jew will not replace us."

Anti-racism organisations such as Black Lives Matter also held marches.

President Donald Trump condemned "in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry, and violence on many sides".

"The hate and the division must stop right now," he told reporters, speaking in New Jersey, where he is on a working holiday. "We have to come together as Americans with love for our nation."

Democrats and Republicans alike have taken issue with his choice of words, noting that he failed to refer to the role of white nationalists.

Republican Senator Cory Gardner tweeted: "Mr. President - we must call evil by its name. These were white supremacists and this was domestic terrorism."

Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah, also a Republican, felt similarly.

Right-wing blogger Jason Kessler had called for a "pro-white" rally in Charlottesville, and white nationalists promoted the gathering widely.

Oren Segal, director of the Anti-Defamation League's Center on Extremism, said white power groups were present in Charlottesville - including neo-Nazis and factions of the Ku Klux Klan.

One picture tweeted by author J K Rowling showed a man on the street carrying a swastika flag.

The governor of Virginia, Terry McAuliffe, said his only message for the white supremacists who had rallied in the city was - "go home." Speaking to reporters in Charlottesville, he said there was no place for white supremacist groups there, or in America.

At the scene: Bottles thrown

By Joel Gunter, BBC News, Charlottesville

There were very violent scenes at Emancipation Park and it took some time for the police to intervene.

Both sides were throwing bottles and rocks and using pepper spray.

The far-right protesters were a mix of different groups with shields and batons and the declaration of a state of emergency seemed to have had a significant impact on them, as they started to dissipate.

Shiquan Rah, a 21-year-old demonstrator who had joined the counter-protest, said about the far-right groups: "These people don't have a message, their message is hate and violence. This is a spiritual war we're in.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The BBC's Joel Gunter describes the clashes, where groups were armed with shields and batons

Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe urged calm tweeting: "The acts and rhetoric in #Charlottesville over past 24 hours are unacceptable [and] must stop. A right to speech is not a right to violence."

Charlottesville Mayor Mike Signer had earlier called the rally a "parade of hatred, bigotry, racism and intolerance".

US Civil War and alt-right links

1861-65 US Civil War between the northern and southern states was principally caused by slavery

Southern Confederate forces, which backed slavery, eventually surrendered to Union army and slavery was abolished

A number of cities have grappled with Confederate symbols that still exist today, with flags and monuments becoming key venues for alt-right groups in recent months

Supporters say Confederate symbols represent freedom and liberty, but opponents say their roots are in slavery

The alt-right is a disparate group of provocateurs who hate political correctness and love Donald Trump, but critics say they are bigoted white nationalists

The rise of the alt-right

The hoax about desecration of US Civil War graves

On Friday, the white nationalists held lit torches - which some observers described as a reference to the Ku Klux Klan - and chanted "White lives matter" as they marched through the University of Virginia in the city.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Members of a white nationalist group were armed and wearing militia uniforms

Charlottesville is considered a liberal college town - and 86% of the county voted for Hillary Clinton in last year's presidential elections.

However, the town has become a focal point for white nationalists after the city council voted to remove the statue of Gen Lee.

Some observers also argue that Mr Trump's election to the White House re-energised the far right across the US. </s> DURHAM, N.C. – A group of anti-white supremacy protesters tore down a Confederate monument Monday during a rally outside a North Carolina courthouse.

Amid chants of “No KKK, no fascist USA,” the group used a ladder and rope to pull down the monument. Several protesters then kicked and spit on the twisted statue as the crowd cheered, according to WNCN.

The protest was organized in response to the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia over the weekend. Organizers of the Durham gathering told WNCN their goal was to “smash white supremacy.”

It’s not the first time that the monument, which depicts a Confederate soldier with the words “In memory of the boys who wore the gray,” has been vandalized since it was erected in 1924.

In July, 2015, someone spray painted “Black Lives Matter” on the base of the monument.
During a protest in Durham, North Carolina, to show solidarity with the events in Charlottesville, Virginia, a Confederate monument was pulled down and destroyed; a woman has been arrested and charged in connection with the event.