Confederate Monument Removal Leads To Gwinnett County Lawsuit: Report

GWINNETT COUNTY, GA — A lawsuit filed last week in Gwinnett County alleges that a Confederate monument was illegally removed almost a year ago, reported the Atlanta-Journal Constitution.

On Thursday, the Georgia division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, and the organization’s Camp No. 96 based in Lawrenceville, sued the county and its commissioners. The suit cites a Georgia law that prohibits the removal or relocation of Confederate monuments except for their “preservation, protection and interpretation,” the AJC reported.

The Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners unanimously voted last year for the monument to be removed, reported WXIA-TV. It was originally erected in the early '90s by the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

Commissioner Kirkland Carden called the monument a symbol of "Lost Cause" ideology and that its removal was "a long time coming."

"This stood for division, secession and hatred, and it has no place in modern-day Gwinnett County," he told WXIA-TV.

According to the Gwinnett Daily Post, the monument had been a target of vandalism. It was removed Feb. 5, 2021, and placed in storage.