Workers cover Confederate monument in downtown Bradenton with plywood

Forty-eight hours before demonstrations are scheduled to take place in downtown Bradenton, the Confederate monument at the center of the controversy in front of the Manatee County historic courthouse was covered with plywood.

Following a three-hour emergency meeting on Friday afternoon, the Manatee County commission voted 6-1 in favor of covering up the Confederate monument to protect it in preparation for a protest and rally planned for Monday evening. It took more than four hours Saturday for four county building and development services workers to frame the monument with two-by-fours and then covered it with plywood.

Bradenton’s Confederate 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. The monument was erected by the Judah P. Benjamin Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy after they got approval from the Manatee County Commission in March 1924.

Tom Whitaker Jr., a local attorney who attended Friday’s meeting, came over to watch as workers covered the monument. Like many, he was hoping and praying Monday’s demonstrations would be peaceful.

Travis Palmer, of Bradenton, stopped by to watch for a short time as well. As he stood and watched, he said he was unsure about whether he felt the monument should remain or be removed.

“How we can we learn to fix the future if we don’t know the history,” Palmer said, but then added, “I understand this offends people.”

Palmer, originally from Louisiana, said to him the monuments were more about honoring the soldiers who fought in the Civil War.

“There are more important priorities in the world such as the heroin epidemic, homeless veterans and trash in the ocean,” Palmer said. “Fighting each other isn’t going to fix anything ... I don’t hate anyone.”

Rather he hoped that maybe now the community could come together to have a conversation about racism.

He was proudly carrying a photo of his granddaughters hugging one another, he said. One was white and the other was biracial, but he said that made no difference to him or them.

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.

Both are planned for 6:30 p.m. Monday.

Another passerby Saturday, Bill, who didn’t want to disclose his last name, stopped as he was driving by when he noticed the monument being covered.

“I just can’t believe this offended anybody,” he said abruptly. “I doubt most people knew it was there.”

The Bradenton resident knew about Monday’s planned demonstrations but did not know that the county commission had voted to cover the monument.

“What good does it do,” he said. “I think there will be a lot of people here and they won’t all be Black Lives Matter.”

He said he plans to be present Monday.

Acting Deputy County Supervisor Cheri Coryea was overseeing the work as county employees covered the monument.

The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office has a safety plan in place for Monday’s planned rally and protest, Col. Dwayne Denison, chief deputy of the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, assured commissioners Friday afternoon. While the sheriff’s office is expecting a peaceful protest, Denison said they were prepared for the worse.

Bradenton Chief of Police Melanie Bevan echoed the sheriff’s office.

“I’m confident that we are going to have a peaceful event,” Bevan told the Herald on Saturday.

Bradenton police are providing assistance to the sheriff’s office, which has jurisdiction over the courthouse property where the rally and protest are planned. But Bradenton police will also be monitoring the march planned by those protesting the monument and anything that may occur outside.

Denison informed commissioners that his agency has been coordinating a safety plan with the Bradenton Police Department for a couple of days and would enforce the law no matter what.

“We are there to ensure people rights to peacefully protest are protected,” Bevan said. “Be it one side or another, it doesn’t matter.”

This story was originally published August 19, 2017 at 2:02 PM with the headline "Workers cover Confederate monument in downtown Bradenton with plywood."