DURHAM, N.C. – A group of anti-white supremacy protesters tore down a Confederate monument Monday during a rally outside a North Carolina courthouse.

Amid chants of “No KKK, no fascist USA,” the group used a ladder and rope to pull down the monument. Several protesters then kicked and spit on the twisted statue as the crowd cheered, according to WNCN.

The protest was organized in response to the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia over the weekend. Organizers of the Durham gathering told WNCN their goal was to “smash white supremacy.”

It’s not the first time that the monument, which depicts a Confederate soldier with the words “In memory of the boys who wore the gray,” has been vandalized since it was erected in 1924.

In July, 2015, someone spray painted “Black Lives Matter” on the base of the monument.</s>Story highlights Confederate statue toppled during Monday protest in Durham, North Carolina

Investigators using video to find suspects, sheriff says

(CNN) Seven people have been arrested in connection with the toppling of a Confederate statue during a protest this week in Durham, North Carolina, authorities said.

The Confederate Soldiers Monument was pulled down during a Monday protest at the old Durham County Courthouse to show solidarity with anti-racist activists after last weekend's deadly clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia

Takiya Fatima Thompson, 22, was charged Tuesday with two felonies -- participation in a riot with property damage in excess of $1,500 and inciting others to riot -- and two misdemeanors -- disorderly conduct by injury to a statue and damage to property, the Durham County Sheriff's Office said. She was held on $10,000 bond.

On Wednesday, Dante Emmanuel Strobino, 35, Ngoc Loan Tran, 24, and Peter Gull Gilbert, 39, were arrested on the same charges, the sheriff's office said.

Three more alleged participants -- Aaron Alexander Caldwell, Raul Mauro Arce Jimenez and Elena Everett -- were arrested Thursday. They were each charged with one felony -- inciting a riot -- and three misdemeanors -- injury to personal property less than $200, injury to real property and defacing a public monument.

Read More</s>A crowd of people gathered in downtown Durham, North Carolina, on Monday night to witness the toppling of a Confederate monument by protesters who pulled down the statue with a rope. Protesters said destroying the monument was their answer to the deadly attack by a white supremacist in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend.

Leoneda Inge (@LeonedaInge) from Here & Now contributor WUNC reports.</s>DURHAM, N.C. – A group of anti-white supremacy protesters tore down a Confederate monument Monday during a rally outside a North Carolina courthouse.

Amid chants of “No KKK, no fascist USA,” the group used a ladder and rope to pull down the monument. Several protesters then kicked and spit on the twisted statue as the crowd cheered, according to WNCN.

The protest was organized in response to the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia over the weekend. Organizers of the Durham gathering told WNCN their goal was to “smash white supremacy.”

It’s not the first time that the monument, which depicts a Confederate soldier with the words “In memory of the boys who wore the gray,” has been vandalized since it was erected in 1924.

In July, 2015, someone spray painted “Black Lives Matter” on the base of the monument.</s>DURHAM, N.C. – A group of anti-white supremacy protesters tore down a Confederate monument Monday during a rally outside a North Carolina courthouse.

Amid chants of “No KKK, no fascist USA,” the group used a ladder and rope to pull down the monument. Several protesters then kicked and spit on the twisted statue as the crowd cheered, according to WNCN.

The protest was organized in response to the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia over the weekend. Organizers of the Durham gathering told WNCN their goal was to “smash white supremacy.”

It’s not the first time that the monument, which depicts a Confederate soldier with the words “In memory of the boys who wore the gray,” has been vandalized since it was erected in 1924.

In July, 2015, someone spray painted “Black Lives Matter” on the base of the monument.</s>KNOXVILLE (WATE) – Virginia State Police have made three arrests related to the planned rally at Emancipation Park in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Virginia State Police say 21-year-old Troy Dunigan from Chattanooga was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct.

21-year-old Jacob L. Smith of Louisa, Virginia was arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault and battery.

44-year-old James M. O’Brien of Gainesville, Florida was arrested and charged with carrying a concealed handgun.</s>Protesters tore down a Confederate monument that stood since 1924 in Durham, North Carolina Monday evening, then took to the streets to protest the white supremacist rally which led to three dead and 19 injured in Charlottesville, Virginia over the weekend.

The planned protest was scheduled to meet around the Confederate monument, which was located on county property outside the Durham courthouse and has been the center of controversy for years. The base of the monument read “In memory of the boys who wore the gray,” and has been defaced with spray paint before. Protestors have attempted to use policy to take down the statue in the past, but North Carolina laws have prevented any changes to historical monuments. CBS North Carolina received an email from Durham County spokeswoman Dawn Dudley, explaining:

“Due to a North Carolina state law passed a few years ago, Durham County is prohibited from removing or making substantive alteration to historical monuments and memorials. I share this to say that there is a statute in place making the efforts you mention below difficult to move forward. I would assume that the only thing possible are steps to reverse the law.”

Eyewitness accounts detailed how a woman climbed the monument then put a rope around it until the crowd pulled to topple it over. The protesters then took to the streets to continue their march against white supremacy and hate.</s>A monument to pro-slavery forces is destroyed, in the wake of clashes in Charlottesville.

No arrests have been reported in connection with the incident in Durham, North Carolina.</s>(CNN)A peaceful protest organized to stand in solidarity with Charlottesville, Virginia, took a turn Monday when protesters toppled a Confederate statue in Durham, North Carolina.

Demonstrators gathered at the old Durham County courthouse around the Confederate Soldiers Monument. The monument, dedicated in 1924, depicts a soldier holding a gun on top of a concrete pillar. The pillar is engraved “In memory of the boys who wore gray.”</s>Protesters in North Carolina have toppled a long-standing statue of a Confederate soldier.

Activists on Monday evening used a rope to pull down the monument outside a Durham courthouse. Video footage posted online shows protesters – some white, some black – kicking the crumpled bronze statue as dozens of people in the crowd cheered and chanted.

READ MORE: Anti-Nazi propaganda film goes viral after Charlottesville violence

The Durham protest was in response to a white nationalist rally held in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend. One woman was killed Saturday after one of the white nationalists drove his car into a group of peaceful counterprotesters.

A United Daughters of the Confederacy website says the Confederate Soldiers Monument was erected in 1924.
During a protest in Durham, North Carolina, to show solidarity with the events in Charlottesville, Virginia, a Confederate monument was pulled down and destroyed; a woman has been arrested and charged in connection with the event.