Abraham Lincoln statue referencing slavery draws protesters and defenders in Washington DC

Before arguments broke out hundreds of protesters gathered to listen to series of speeches about statue’s history

Protesters for and against the removal of the Emancipation Memorial debate in Lincoln Park (Getty)

Fierce arguments broke out by a statue of Abraham Lincoln in the nation’s capital on Friday night as dozens of protesters hoping to remove it confronted a handful of people eager to defend the monument.

The Emancipation Memorial in Lincoln Park, which depicts an African American man kneeling at the feet of Lincoln, has emerged as a flashpoint during the ongoing protests over the killing of George Floyd. Earlier this week, some demonstrators vowed to remove the statue, arguing it promotes white supremacy and ignores the pivotal role slaves played in fighting for their own freedom.

But others, including prominent African American historians, have pointed out that the statue was commissioned and paid for by a group of African Americans.

On Friday evening, conflicts between demonstrators – many of whom wielded duelling bullhorns – took the form of a generational fight. Older black residents argued the statue should stay up because its removal would erase an important chapter in the history of African Americans. Younger black protesters, however, shouted back that the monument is demeaning and must be pulled down.

As the conversations turned increasingly heated and profane, some young people suggested the monument should be burned too.

Several dozen officers with US Park Police and the District of Columbia police watched the arguments, mostly without interfering. They stood spread throughout Lincoln Park’s grassy lawns, apparently ready to protect the statue, which federal and District law enforcement had encircled with protective metal fencing the day before.

Close to 8pm, demonstrators chased Jack Posobiec – an ultraconservative commentator and Trump supporter who frequently advocates conspiracy theories – from the park. Mr Posobiec had wandered near the base of the monument, spurring some demonstrators to yell obscenities, call him a Nazi and urge him to leave the city.

A dozen protesters shoved and chased Mr Posobiec into a side street. After a couple of minutes of tense yelling, a police van pulled up and officers spilt out to form a protective line around Mr Posobiec. Despite officers’ insistence they leave Mr Posobiec alone, a handful of demonstrators remained for a while longer, yelling obscenities. Police pushed at least one protester to the ground before helping Mr Posobiec into the van and driving away.

Mr Posobiec later tweeted that he was “totally fine” but “filing an assault report with DC police”.

Earlier Friday evening, before the arguments broke out, hundreds of protesters – including many families with small children – had gathered to listen to a series of speeches about the statue’s history, including one delivered by a Frederick Douglass impersonator.

Douglass gave a famous address at the statue’s dedication in 1876, taking advantage of the moment to highlight Lincoln’s ambivalence towards black Americans. Although the 16th president led the charge to end slavery, he defended racist views commonly held by whites in his era; Douglass called him “pre-eminently the white man’s president”.

The turmoil over the Lincoln statue comes as demonstrators in the District and nationwide have begun targeting monuments and memorials they believe honour racist episodes and values from America’s past. The drive to remove statues has typically focused on markers dedicated to Confederate leaders such as General Robert E Lee.

On Monday, police foiled an attempt by some demonstrators to topple a statue of President Andrew Jackson in Lafayette Square, just outside the White House.

District mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, has denounced the idea that “a mob” would tear down the Lincoln statue. At a news conference this week, she insisted that the city should debate the monument’s fate, even though Lincoln Park is federally controlled land.

Donald Trump is taking a much more dim view of the campaign. Earlier in the week, Mr Trump promised federal officials would seek lengthy sentences for anyone who toppled statues or vandalised monuments, and he issued an executive order late on Friday meant to protect them.

The Washington Post