Some Bradenton businesses will close early if rally turns ugly

The national debate over what to do with Confederate monuments has come to Manatee County, and at about 6:30 p.m. Monday those for and against the removal of one such monument in front of the Manatee County Historic Courthouse will gather in downtown Bradenton.

But as the marchers, who are expected to come from several organizations, descend on the 93-year-old, 22-foot-tall monument at the courthouse, they likely will pass numerous downtown businesses on Old Main Street such as Lou’s Diner, O’Bricks Irish Pub & Martini Bar, Fav’s Italian Cucina, Old Main Pub, Lost Kangaroo Pub and others, including attorney’s offices, whose owners are wondering if the demonstrators will be peaceful or violent along the way.

“Hopefully it will be peaceful,” Morgan Kimball, a server at Lou’s Diner, 310 Old Main St., Bradenton, said Sunday while she served a customer. “I think it will be peaceful. I really do. But, absolutely, if it gets out of hand we are going to shut down the shop.

“We will want to stay away from the mess if it turns into a mess. We will have to wait and see.”

A block down from Lou’s Diner, Robin’s Downtown Cafe is only open until 2:30 p.m. Monday, but staff and ownership have discussed closing early if by some chance it becomes unsafe for customers and staff earlier in the day, employee Heather Mackie said Sunday.

Rick Willats, owner of O’Bricks Irish Pub & Martini Bar, 427 12th St. W., Bradenton, on Sunday said he was confident there will be no reason to close early. He thinks the marchers will respect Bradenton businesses.

“I hope so,” Willats said when asked if the marchers will leave the businesses as they find them. “We will be open on our regular schedule, which is 11 a.m. until 2 a.m. I think it will be peaceful. I don’t expect any problems.”

At the center of the protests is the marble monument erected in 1924 by the Judah P. Benjamin Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy that stands in front of the historic courthouse, 1051 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton.

Some local groups, following the recent violent white nationalist rallies in Charlottesville, Va., want to see the statue taken down, saying that with the Confederate flag etched on one side and the names of Jefferson Davis, Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee etched on the others, it honors Confederate generals who fought to preserve slavery in the South.

Other groups, who say the monument is simply a veterans memorial and represents a chapter in Florida history, want it to remain.

The Paul Revere Society

Bradenton attorney Tom Whitaker Jr. on Sunday said he won’t be in his downtown office when the rally starts, but not out of fear. He and a group of friends have decided to convene at the Riverwalk Skatepark around 6 p.m. before the rally, where he has heard the marchers will meet as a starting point.

“I plan on being out where they are going to muster,” Whitaker said Sunday. “We will be the extra eyes and ears for law enforcement and we will call 911 if we see anything unlawful. But we will be there in an attitude of prayer.”

If a bus should pull up to the Skatepark filled with people with clubs and wearing masks, Whitaker said he and his colleagues, who he chooses to call the Paul Revere Society, will call 911 immediately.

“Why let bullies create chaos?” said Whitaker, who believes the statue’s fate should be put to a vote by the citizens of Manatee County.

During a special meeting Friday, the Manatee County Commission voted 6-1 to cover the statue, which was completed Saturday using plywood. Commissioner Charles Smith, who had hoped to see the statue placed in storage to avoid damage, was the dissenting vote.

Adding another level of complexity to the issue is that the Manatee County Historic Courthouse is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Manatee County attorney Mitchell Palmer said Friday he did not know if there are federal rules against moving the monument.

Col. Dwayne Denison, chief deputy of the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, told commissioners Friday that his agency has been coordinating a safety plan with the Bradenton Police Department and would enforce the law no matter what.

Marchers represent multiple groups

Groups that want the monument removed and plan on being at the rally include Black Lives Matter Alliance Sarasota Manatee Chapter, Indivisible Bradenton and Answer Suncoast, according to a Facebook event posting.

Members of America First-Team Manatee, who contend the statue should be preserved, are planning to gather at the monument at 6:30 p.m.

“What does it mean for a young black person who has been told they are created equal to see a statue in front of their courthouse which celebrates and symbolizes a part of society that did not want them to exist as free and equals humans?” Shakira Softer, an event organizer, told the Herald on Friday. “This is not political. This is just a fight between right and wrong.”

Lunelle Mizell said her great-great-grandfather Francis Burdette Hagan served Manatee County and the state of Florida honorably in the Confederate militia starting at age 12, and that he went on to be a county official and elected representative in the Florida Legislature. Other ancestors, she said, died serving their country, including one who perished in a prisoner of war camp.

“I’m offended, it’s disgusting. It’s hateful, it’s hateful,” Mizell told the Herald on Friday.“These memorials are just that, they’re veterans memorials.”

This story was originally published August 20, 2017 at 4:58 PM with the headline "Some Bradenton businesses will close early if rally turns ugly."