Thread by @MegKinnardAP

Officials in the historic city of Charleston, South Carolina, are expected to vote to remove a 100-foot-high statue of former vice president & slavery advocate John C. Calhoun.

I'll be in Charleston tonight, after the City Council votes.

apnews.com/3e3d4a9cf077ae…

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — City Council votes to remove statue of former U.S. vice president and slavery advocate John C. Calhoun from Charleston, South Carolina, square.

After hearing from dozens of members of the public speaking for and against removing the statue, the City Council - including Mayor @JohnTecklenburg - voted 13-0 in favor.

"We are making the right step," Tecklenburg said. "It's just simply the right thing for us to do."

Councilman Karl L. Brady Jr. said he knew his support may cost votes but that he felt removing Calhoun shows that, in Charleston, “we place white supremacy & white supremacist thought back where it belongs - on the ash heap of history.”

My updated story.
apnews.com/3e3d4a9cf077ae…

Charleston Police confirm via tweet that removal of the Calhoun statue will take place tonight in Charleston.

https://twitter.com/charlestonpd/status/1275633347730046983?s=21

https://twitter.com/charlestonpd/status/1275633347730046983

Police are posted at each corner of Charleston’s Marion Square, over which the 100-foot Calhoun monument has towered since 1898. I’m told the statue at its top will come down tonight; the fate of the obelisk on which it sits remains to be determined.

Crews are moving a chain link barricade from one side of the street to the other to accommodate equipment and personnel for removal of Calhoun. There are some onlookers, but most of the people I can see are law enforcement or media.

As equipment continues to be brought in, a crowd is gathering. This woman has been in Marion Square for several hours, protesting against the statue removal and opining on other issues.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Crews begin process of removing statue of slavery advocate John C. Calhoun from Charleston, South Carolina, square.

More than an hour and a half after their work began, crews are still making preparations to take down the Calhoun statue from its perch in downtown Charleston. Here’s my story, which I’ll be continuing to update through the night. apnews.com/a88ad98372bbb8…

It’s happening: After three hours of prep, removal crews converge atop Charleston, South Carolina’s massive John C. Calhoun monument.

At around 4 a.m., four hours into the Calhoun removal process, the chainsaws came out. What’s left of the crowd here seemed very excited about that.

It’s sunrise in Charleston, where work continues on removing this statue of John C. Calhoun, a former vice president & South Carolina native who strongly advocated for slavery. We’ve been out here all night, since crews began moving equipment into the square at around midnight.

Now in its 9th hour, Calhoun statue removal is ongoing here in Charleston. Some sort of device has been affixed to the cylinder on which the statue stands, and 4 crew members are back on massive booms, high in the air.

As we continue to wait, if you want to see some amazing photojournalism that documents this event, follow @WhitakerPhotos of the @postandcourier.

Here's a sample of his work, taken shortly after the council voted last night to remove the Calhoun statue.

A stunning visual.

UPDATE: Crews continue to attempt removal of Calhoun, a process now in its 11th hour. Officials tell me they're waiting on a diamond saw that'll be used to cut into a bronze post that runs from the base of the monument to the statue.

This explains why the 100ft. monument has withstood many Charleston hurricanes during its 122 years of towering over Marion Square.

The former Secretary of War under President James Monroe doesn't seem to want to come down without a fight.

In the 14th hour of this process, contractors are now using the diamond saw to try to extricate the Calhoun statue from its towering monument. Officials have said they expect this endeavor to take several hours.

After police cleared people 50 yards from the fence barrier around the Calhoun removal area, and it seemed action was imminent, city officials now tell me contractors will need about 10 more minutes for “final cuts” to separate the statue from its perch.

City officials initially estimated the process would take several hours.

It's now been more than 16.

Why so much longer?

I asked:

Charleston Parks Director Jason Kronsberg walked me through "unforeseen conditions" he says have lengthened the process. (1/4)

First, Kronsberg says the Calhoun statue is affixed to a large bronze "bowl" deep within the granite cylinder on which it sits. The bronze is covered with grout, epoxy & concrete, so the expert who made the initial inspection was unaware it existed. (2/4)

Crews discovered the bronze when a concrete saw failed to cut through. Kronsberg says a company - that had planned to, once the statue was down, use a diamond-tipped chainsaw to chop up the 100-ft monument - instead had to hack at the cylinder, work he says has been lengthy.(3/4)

As to why the statue removal was scheduled so speedily after the proposal & vote, and if more time should have been taken to plan, Kronsberg says City Council recommended Calhoun come down "as soon as possible" after the vote, for public safety reasons. (4/4)

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Charleston, South Carolina, has removed its statue of slavery advocate and US vice president John C. Calhoun

Here’s my updated story on the removal of the John C. Calhoun statue from downtown Charleston, South Carolina, which has finally happened after a 17-hour process.

I have been right here, for all 17 of those hours. apnews.com/a88ad98372bbb8…

Next stop for Calhoun is storage, while his final home is TBD. Tonight, other parts of the monument will be dismantled, with the tower planned to come down tomorrow.

Here, what I hope will be my final take on this historic event - at least for today. apnews.com/a88ad98372bbb8…