U.S. law enforcement agencies have set up fencing around the Washington Park monument, depicting former US President Abraham Lincoln next to a kneeling African American after protesters called for the demolition of the monument, the Washington Post reported.
According to the publication, earlier protesters announced that they plan to gather near the memorial on Thursday and Friday evening. According to the newspaper, it is not known whether the demonstrators were going to hold a rally near it or also to demolish the monument.
The memorial in question depicts Lincoln holding the Slave Proclamation next to an African American who kneeled before him. Critics say this monument offends the dignity of African Americans and shows that they did not actively contribute to the liberation from slavery.
According to the Wall Street Journal, citing a statement by the US National Park Service, the area near the Lincoln Park memorial will be closed by the end of July and possibly for a longer period. This is done to prevent “vandalism and destruction, as well as a threat to public safety”.
Across the whole USA, amid protests after the death of African-American George Floyd at the hands of the police, a spontaneous demolition of monuments to the southerners of the Civil War began. This also affected the statues of the discoverer of America, Christopher Columbus, whom left-wing activists accuse of genocide of the indigenous population of America.