A monument honoring Rockdale County's Confederate soldiers was placed at the corner of the county courthouse on Main Street on April 26, 1913. On June 30, 2020, just over 107 years later, the monument was removed following an executive order from Rockdale County Commission Chair Oz Nesbitt Sr.
Nesbitt said he had received numerous emails, phone calls and texts from people wanting the monument removed and wanted to follow the "letter of the law" in doing so. But, Nesbitt said, after receiving word about possible threats to the monument, he made the decision to take it down.
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The Confederate soldier is removed from atop the monument in Olde Town Conyers.
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Debate over whether the monument should stay or be removed went on before the ceremony began. Deena Watkins stated the monument is a part of the history of everyone in Rockdale County and it should be studied, not erased.
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Anthony Smith (left) and Alonzo Hill (right) said the monument is not being destroyed, just moved, and that having it in front of the courthouse makes Black people feel they don't have equality in the justice system.
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District One Commissioner Sherri Washington watched the monument come down.
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Rockdale County Public Relations Director Jorge Diez.
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Rockdale County Commission Chair Oz Nesbitt Sr.
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Dr. Dave Benson, pastor of Conyers First United Methodist Church.
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Father Pablo
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Pastor Eric Lee of Springfield Baptist Church.
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Conyers Police officers and Rockdale County Sheriff's deputies have people move from around the monument before the work on it begins.
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The crowd was kept behind police tape for their own safety.
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A crane was brought in to remove the monument.
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A worker holds up telephone lines for the crane to back in closer to the monument.
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Workers put straps around the statue of the Confederate soldier.
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The statue and other pieces were placed on the crane truck.
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The cap piece is removed.
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A flatbed was brought in to haul the pieces of the monument to an undisclosed location for safekeeping until a new site for it is found.
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A second cap is removed.
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The main tower piece of the monument is removed.Â
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A worker removes one of the granite cannon balls from the monument. The other three were left on.
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The third cap is removed.
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The upper base with the cannon balls is removed.
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The upper base is placed on the truck with the other pieces.
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