Kaylee SciaccaAn N.C. Central University student in Durham was arrested Tuesday afternoon on campus on charges related to the destruction of a Confederate statue in downtown Durham.
Takiyah Thompson, 22, climbed a ladder to the top of the statue to tie a rope around its neck before the crowd tore it down. She, along with other members of the Workers World Party, was holding a press conference in front of the Farrison-Newton Communications Building at the time of her arrest.
The statue, a depiction of a Confederate soldier holding a rifle with the inscription “in memory of the boys who wore the gray,” was erected in 1924 in front of the old county courthouse on East Main Street.
Thompson currently has four separate charges against her:
- damage to real property (statue as a fixture; Class I Misdemeanor)
- disorderly conduct by injury to a statue (Class II Misdemeanor)
- inciting others to riot where there is property damage in excess of $1,500 (Class F Felony)
- participation in a riot with property damage in excess of $1,500 (Class H Felony)
Three other protesters — 35-year-old Dante Emmanuel Strobino, 24-year-old Ngoc Loan Tran and 39-year-old Peter Gull Gilbert — have been arrested as of Wednesday afternoon on identical charges.
She was given a $10,000 unsecured bond and released on bail later that evening. Thompson had her first court appearance this morning at the Durham County Courthouse. Her next court date is set for Sept. 12.
This article was originally published on College Town NC.
