Crews Remove 115-Year-Old Birmingham Confederate Monument
A day after unrest turned protests violent in downtown Birmingham, most of a Confederate monument was removed piece by piece Monday night. Removal of the monument in Birmingham’s Linn Park was a rallying cry for demonstrators Monday. Workers loaded the 115-year-old Confederate Sailors and Soldiers monument onto a flatbed truck.

Darrell McCalla,WBHM
Only the pedestal of the Confederate monument remained Tuesday morning.
Crews disassembled the obelisk through the night before pausing work early Tuesday morning. Mayor Randall Woodfin assured demonstrators Sunday night he would remove the monument by Tuesday. State law offers protection for historical monuments, and state Attorney General Steve Marshall vowed to sue the city over its removal.
“The Alabama Monuments Preservation Act provides a singular avenue for enforcement — the filing of a civil complaint in pursuit of a fine, which the Alabama Supreme Court has determined to be a one-time assessment of $25,000. The Act authorizes no additional relief,” Marshall said in a statement Monday. “Should the City of Birmingham proceed with the removal of the monument in question, based upon multiple conversations I have had today, city leaders understand I will perform the duties assigned to me by the Act to pursue a new civil complaint against the City.”
Earlier in the day, civil rights leaders called for the monument’s removal. Jefferson County Commissioner Sheila Tyson said it represented hundreds of years of torment for African Americans.
“It used to be a sore. It’s cancer. It’s eating away at the community,” Tyson said. “We cannot grow, we cannot expand with this monster wings over us, choking us, and it’s got to leave.”
Bishop Calvin Woods of the Birmingham chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference urged protesters to find solace in faith. He called on white people, particularly white faith leaders, to speak out against injustices toward African Americans.
William Barnes, president and CEO of the Birmingham Urban League, called for the monument’s immediate removal.
“With the recent death of many of those across this nation, we say enough is enough,” he said. “We are done dying and we’re done being reminded. We’re done being reminded of the atrocities against African Americans.”
A GoFundMe page was established to help pay the city’s removal fines. Just before midnight Monday it raised more than $51,000.
Streets around Linn Park were blocked off during the monument’s removal. The city established a curfew beginning Monday night to last indefinitely.
Judge demands to know if White House is helping return wrongly deported Maryland man
The hearing is the first about Abrego Garcia's case since El Salvador's president told reporters he is not going to "smuggle a terrorist into the United States."
Trump signs executive action to lower drug prices
The action is intended to build upon the existing program for Medicare drug price negotiations, which was created by the Inflation Reduction Act that passed during the Biden administration.
New Israeli ceasefire offer demands Hamas discuss disarming, but group rejects it
Hamas is rejecting a new Israeli proposal to pause the war in Gaza, a Hamas official told NPR. Earlier, officials mediating talks had expressed optimism that a deal could be reached within weeks.
Higher ed war heats up as Trump threatens Harvard’s tax-exempt status
The president's comments came after the administration froze $2 billion in federal grants for Harvard after the university rejected what it saw as illegal government demands.
When an earthquake struck San Diego, these elephants formed an ‘alert circle’
When a 5.2 earthquake hit near San Diego yesterday, the San Diego Zoo Safari Park caught its elephants on video taking action to protect their young, forming what experts call an "alert circle."
A colossal squid is filmed in its natural habitat for the first time
Colossal squid are known to be elusive and likely avoid the bright and loud research equipment used underwater.