Meeting to discuss Confederate statue Friday

June 11, 2020–11:00 a.m.

STAFF REPORTS

A special called meeting of the Rome Community Development Services Committee will be held Friday morning to discuss the confederate statue at the base of Myrtle Hill.

There is a petition drive to remove the statue of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest.

During Monday’s Rome City Commission meeting, Wes Walraven asked the commission to vote to relocate the statue, citing Forrest’s role in the massacre of black soldiers at Fort Pillow and Forrest’s leadership in the Ku Klux Klan.

City Attorney Andy Davis said that state law currently prohibits the removal of the statue, but there is legislation being considered that would change that.

Friday’s meeting begins at 10 a.m. in the Rome City Auditorium.

The public is invited to attend the meeting in person or watch it live on the City of Rome’s Facebook page.

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