DC Protesters Topple, Set Fire To Statue Of Confederate General

WASHINGTON, DC — Protesters pulled down and set fire to a stature of Confederal Gen. Albert Pike Friday night in Judiciary Square, according to news reports. This followed a day of peaceful protests in the District in celebration of Juneteenth.

Ken Duffy of WTOP reported protesters started pulling down the statue after 10 p.m. They then gathered around the statue, which had been set on fire, and began chanting “No justice, no peace!” and “No racist police!”

Pike, a senior Confederate general, received a pardon from President Andrew Johnson following the Civil War, according to a 2016 report by The Washington Post.

A strict nativist, Pike was anti-catholic and anti-immigrant. Some of his critics claimed that he was instrumental in the founding of the Ku Klux Klan, according to the Post. Pike was also active in Freemasonry.

The statue was installed in 1901 near the corner of 3rd and D streets by the Masons, making it the only Confederate statue in the capital of the winning side of the Civil War, the Post said.

Read WTOP's full report: DC protesters topple, burn statue of Confederate Gen. Albert Pike