Trump supporters plan rally at Confederate monument at same time as opposing activists

A group of local supporters of President Donald Trump are calling for a peaceful rally on Monday evening at the site of a Confederate monument outside the Manatee Historic Courthouse, where local activists also will protest to demand its removal.

Bradenton’s Confederate monument was erected by the Judah P. Benjamin Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy after approval from the Manatee County Commission in March 1924. The monument, which has a Confederate flag etched on one side and the names of Jefferson Davis, Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee etched on the other sides, was unveiled in June 1924.

A unity march and protest demanding the monument’s removal is being organized by the Black Lives Matter Alliance Sarasota Manatee Chapter, Indivisible Bradenton Pro-gressive and Answer Suncoast. The group plans to meet at the Bradenton Riverwalk near the South Florida Museum and will then march to the Manatee County Historic Courthouse for their protest.

On Wednesday, America First-Team Manatee, a group of local Trump supporters, announced it is planning its own peaceful rally in support of preserving the monument.

“The removal of any monument representing our historical struggles doesn’t, won’t and can’t change history and shouldn’t be employed as a tool for racism and division,” the group stated in a news release. “Our county must unite as Americans and Floridians honor the sacrifices made by our forefathers.”

The rally and protest are both scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Monday.

These local events come in the wake of the violence and public outrage that erupted after James Alex Fields Jr. of Ohio plowed into a group of people peacefully protesting a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., on Saturday, killing one person and injuring dozens more. The rally began Friday night when white nationalists carried torches across the University of Virginia campus in protest of the city’s decision to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

America First-Team Manatee said its goal is to preserve history and honor all veterans. The past should be used to “positively impact our future,” according to the group.

“The removal of historical monuments is divisive and costly and there are many other positive ways to unite our county, our state and our country,” the group’s statement said. “We are a diverse, united community, proud of how much we have accomplished toward unity and inclusion. Attempting to erase our past jeopardizes all that we have accomplished. Those that are using the claim of racism to remove history in Manatee County are solely about division and conflict.”

This story was originally published August 16, 2017 at 5:47 PM with the headline "Trump supporters plan rally at Confederate monument at same time as opposing activists."