Posted on 12/18/2023 11:34:36 AM PST by NorthMountain
A Trump-appointed federal judge has temporarily halted removal proceedings for the Confederate memorial at Arlington National Cemetery that began Monday, the Associated Press reported.
Defend Arlington filed a lawsuit in a federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, on Sunday for a temporary restraining order, the AP reported. Work had already begun to remove the bronze elements of the memorial in accordance with recommendations in the Congressionally-mandated Naming Commission’s final report to scrub Department of Defense (DOD) assets of any symbolism that could be seen to honor the Confederacy.
A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, according to the AP. The memorial has not been dismantled.
“Safety fencing was installed around the Memorial yesterday, Dec. 17 and the deliberate deconstruction process is currently underway,” cemetery spokesperson Rebecca Wardwell told the Daily Caller News Foundation earlier on Monday.
The Army previously said it anticipated the removal process to take place over four days.
Defend Arlington sued the Army and the Department of Defense (DOD) in a district court in February to halt the removal. The district judge dismissed the case on Dec. 12. (RELATED: Former Senator Makes Plea To Save Arlington Cemetery’s Confederate Monument)
The cemetery claims removing the memorial is required by Congress and that doing so will comply with environmental regulations and leave the 400 Confederate graves encircling the monument undisturbed, according to the AP. However, Defend Arlington’s lawsuit argues the Army unlawfully bypassed certain regulations.
“The removal will desecrate, damage, and likely destroy the Memorial longstanding at ANC as a grave marker and impede the Memorial’s eligibility for listing on the National Register of Historic Places,” the lawsuit states, according to the AP.
A Department of Defense spokesperson referred the DCNF to Arlington National Cemetery. The cemetery did not immediately respond to a renewed request for comment.
U.S. District Judge Rossie Alston, who issued the restraining order, said the parties should be prepared to discuss Defend Arlington’s prior, dismissed case at the court date, saying it could affect his decision whether or not to extend the stay beyond Wednesday, the AP reported.
Alston wrote that he “takes very seriously the representations of officers of the Court and should the representations in this case be untrue or exaggerated the Court may take appropriate sanctions,” AP reported.
The new lawsuit differs from the previous one in that the plaintiffs now have concrete evidence the removal efforts are disturbing the graves, David McCallister, a spokesperson for the advocacy group Save Southern Heritage Florida, told the AP.
“The Memorial represents a symbol of reconciliation aimed at healing a country divided during a brutal sectional war and reconstruction,” Defend Arlington wrote in the prior lawsuit.
Just in time as the crane was already moving this morning
Video
The Confederate Memorial in Arlington Cemetery is getting dismantled today
https://rumble.com/v41y49z-the-confederate-memorial-in-arlington-cemetery-is-getting-dismantled-today.html
I have come to hate Biden as much as I came to hate Obama. They both hate America.
Like the Taliban, the DNC/Communist party loves tearing down historical statues.
Best news I’ve heard all day. Monuments at Arlington cemetery should not be the Pentagon’s business. Those idiots should be down on the Rio Grande looking for new recruits for their WOKE “army”. How about letting the veterans decide about this Memorial. AFTERALL, IT’S OUR FRIGGIN’ CEMENTERY and those American Confederate soldiers loved America a hell of a lot more than the millies and zeros do.
Thank you God. The Monument is significant. Part of the healing between the North and the South.
They want another Civil War.
What’s next?
Dig up the Confederate graves and burn their bones?.................
Thank God.
These people don’t want a Confederate statue gone.
They want forgiveness and reconciliation gone.
Everything an endless struggle session for liberal purity.
Insanity
There it is.
It will last long enough for the left to find another "fine people on both sides" comment they can exploit.
-PJ
So far, so good!
Yup!
I’m with you. I despise Biden and his whole family.
Thank God for now. This is such a disgrace!
That monument honors soldiers that died for a cause that they innocently believed in. Also, the monument shows respect for those that lost loved ones.
There is a well-kept cemetery in Normandy, near the American Cemetery for the German soldiers who fell there.
That was certainly a major purpose in its original placement. So now I wonder what the revisionsits are saying when trying to remove it.
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