Thread by @cluther_wmc5

The process of removing the remains of Confederate General, slave trader and early leader of the KKK, Nathan Bedford Forrest and his wife have begun in Health Sciences Park.

Repairs are being made to the marble before it’s all moved to Middle TN. In all, the work will take weeks

This process is a compromise between Memphis Greenspace, the non-profit who owns the park & removed the Forrest statue in 2017 after months of protests from Take Em Down 901 & the Forrest family.

Van Turner, President of Memphis Greenspace spoke about this historic undertaking.

The Forrest statue was removed in 2017 after pressure was put on City of Memphis officials by the Take Em Down 901 movement which was led by now Shelby County Commissioner @tamisawyer.

Sons of Confederate Veterans and the Forrest family filed multiple lawsuits afterward.

I spoke to Sons of Confederate Veterans Representative and representative of Forrests 5 living grandsons, Lee Millar.

Sons of Confederate Veterans is paying the 150-200 thousand dollars to remove the pedestal and the Forrest remains. He says this is an acceptable compromise.

The crew contracted to remove the pedestal has put several confederate flags up on the fence.

Employees are also walking all the way around the fence to dump the bricks they are removing on top of the word “Black” part of Black Lives Matter spray painted on the ground.

This man, part of the construction crew, has been harassing and yelling at Shelby County Commissioner Tami Sawyer as she came to give an interview to the media.

The man then started singing Dixie Land behind Sawyer. He also called her a Communist repeatedly.

This construction crew was hired and paid for by the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

Shelby County Commissioner Van Turner and President of Memphis Greenspace, the non-profit that owns the park, says he wants the man, identified as George “K-Rack” Johnson, to be removed.

Commissioner Sawyer says she plans to file charges.

She left the park physically unharmed.