text: A protester kicks the toppled statue of a Confederate soldier after it was pulled down in Durham, N.C. Monday, Aug. 14, 2017. Activists on Monday evening used a rope to pull down the monument outside... (Associated Press) 
   
   DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Protesters in North Carolina toppled a nearly century-old statue of a Confederate soldier Monday at a rally against racism. 
   
   Activists in Durham brought a ladder up to the statue and used a rope to pull down the Confederate Soldiers Monument that was dedicated in 1924. A diverse crowd of dozens cheered as the statue of a soldier holding a rifle fell to the ground in front of an old courthouse building that now houses local government offices. 
   
   Seconds after the monument fell, protesters began kicking the crumpled bronze monument. 
   
   "I was a little bit shocked people could come here and come together like that," said Isaiah Wallace, who is black. 
   
   Wallace said he watched as others toppled the statue. He hopes other Confederate symbols elsewhere will follow. 
   
   "I feel like this is going to send shockwaves through the country and hopefully they can bring down other racist symbols," he said. 
   
   The Durham protest was in response to a white nationalist rally held in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend. Authorities say one woman was killed Saturday after one of the white nationalists drove his car into a group of peaceful counter-protesters. 
   
   Although the violence in Virginia has prompted fresh talk by government officials about bringing down symbols of the Confederacy around the South, North Carolina has a law protecting them. The 2015 law prevents removing such monuments on public property without permission from state officials. 
   
   In response to the statue in Durham being torn down, Democratic North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper tweeted: "The racism and deadly violence in Charlottesville is unacceptable but there is a better way to remove these monuments." 
   
   After the statue fell, several dozen protesters congregated on the street in front of the old courthouse. Some took pictures standing or sitting on the toppled soldier, in front of a pedestal inscribed with the words "In Memory of the Boys Who Wore The Gray." Police cruisers blocked off the street, and officers looked on — some filming. As it got dark, rally participants began to peacefully disperse. 
   
   Robin Williamson, who works downtown, arrived in the area about an hour after the statue came down. Williamson, who is black, said he can sympathize with people who are upset with the state of racial discourse in the country. 
   
   "People feel that with Donald Trump as leader, racists can be vocal," he said. 
   
   He said that while Confederate monuments have been defaced in other cities, it was surprising to see an entire statue brought down by protesters. 
   
   "This is a little bit more intense because they took the whole statue down," he said. 
   
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   Follow Drew at www.twitter.com/jonldrew ||||| A protest in downtown Durham on Monday night left a statue of a Confederate soldier erected nearly a century ago crumpled on the ground. 
   
   Sheriff’s deputies recorded the event but did not intervene as a protester climbed a ladder and slipped a yellow, bungie-like cord around the soldier’s head and arm and a group pulled the cord. 
   
   The statue did a somersault, collapsing against the stone pedestal in front of the old county courthouse on East Main Street. 
   
   Protesters cheered and started to kick the crumpled mass. 
   
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   Gov. Roy Cooper criticized the action, tweeting that “the racism and deadly violence in Charlottesville is unacceptable but there is a better way to remove these monuments.” 
   
   Monday’s rally, the second in Durham in two days, began around 6 p.m. as more than 50 people gathered in front of the now county administration building chanting, sharing their experiences in Charlottesville, Virginia, and demanding that people fight racism in their communities and across the South. 
   
   “Tactics are changing, which means that our strategies need to change, our unity needs to escalate and our demands to fight back and resist domestic terror needs to escalate,” said Eva Panjwani with the Workers World Party Durham. 
   
   As the crowd swelled to more than 100 people, the protesters circled the statue of the soldier holding a muzzle-loading rifle and chanted “No Trump! No KKK! No fascist USA!” 
   
   Groups at the rally included members of the Triangle People’s Assembly, Workers World Party, Industrial Workers of the World, Democratic Socialists of America and the antifa movement. 
   
   “This is a really an opportunity, this moment of Charlottesville to see what side of history we are choosing to side with,” Panjwani said. “This is not a call to make someone to feel guilty or ashamed. This is a call to say this is an ask from people of color to say which side are you on.” 
   
   Conversations about loving your neighbor have not worked, she said. 
   
   Alissa Ellis, of the Workers World Party Durham branch that was a participant in the Charlottesville protest, said people need to embrace multiple tactics because that is what kept her safe. 
   
   “We need to shun passive, white liberalism” that elevates whites voices over black and brown voices, she said. 
   
   Others called for all Confederate statues across the South to come down, including Silent Sam on the UNC Chapel Hill campus. 
   
   Durham County sent out a statement at 12:23 a.m. that said local elected officials and senior staff understand the unrest in the nation and community, particularly following the senseless acts that took place in Charlottesville. 
   
   “We share the sentiments of many communities around the nation that admonish hate and acts of violence as we believe civility is necessary in our every action and response,” the statement said. “Governmental agencies dedicated to public safety will continue to work collectively to ensure Durham remains a community of excellence where all of our residents can live peacefully, grow and thrive.” 
   
   Stopping traffic 
   
   After the Durham statue was pulled down, protesters walked down East Main Street and blocked the intersection at South Roxboro Street, some holding hands in the middle of the broad intersection. 
   
   After about five minutes, the group left the intersection and continued to walk down Main Street on the sidewalk. They stopped at the construction site of the new Durham Police Department headquarters. 
   
   Police blocked traffic and accompanied the group as members walked down the streets. No arrests were made, the department said Monday night. Durham County Sheriff’s Office has jurisdiction over all county buildings and landmarks, it said. 
   
   The line of protesters walked back to the old courthouse. Some took photographs with the fallen statue. Sheriff’s officials continued to take video. 
   
   Isaiah Wallace, 26, of Durham, accompanied the protesters carrying and playing a guitar. 
   
   Watching the statue fall “was awesome,” he said. 
   
   “It’s going to send shock waves through the country, all the rest of the racist monuments and symbols can get town down also,” he said. 
   
   Some of the protesters started to yell at sheriff’s officials standing on the steps of the old courthouse recording, and then Durham police officers blocking the street. 
   
   Pierre Faulkner waved a sign in front of them that said “cops and clan go hand in hand” on one side and “Black Lives Matter smash white supremacy” on the other. 
   
   “If y’all aren’t going to help us, we are going to help each other,” said Faulkner, 27, a student at Durham Technical Community College. “You understand that. Do you understand that? You look like you voted for Donald Trump.” 
   
   At 8:26 p.m., a law enforcement official told protesters to disperse. “Leave the street. Leave the area right now. Leave the property of the county right now,” he said. 
   
   A small group continued to follow Faulkner down Main Street. He stopped on the corner of Corcoran and Main streets, and people then started to go their separate ways around 8:34 p.m. 
   
   Faulkner said all he wants is for their voice to be heard. 
   
   “The message that they are trying to explain to these police is it doesn’t matter about your skin color. Everybody is one person. Everybody should be treated equally,” he said. “They’re standing out here with guns and bullet proof vests. We have no weapons. This is a peaceful protest. All we want is our voice to be heard.” 
   
   More information sought 
   
   Earlier Monday County Commissioners Chairwoman Wendy Jacobs said she had asked county staff to start researching the history of the Main Street monument and state legislation regarding Cconfederate monuments. 
   
   “We don’t even have basic information about the history of the statue,” she said. “We don’t know anything about what the current laws are.” 
   
   “The first step of any conversation is understanding what the facts are,” she said. 
   
   Protesters pulled down this 15-foot-tall statue of a Confederate soldier Monday night, Aug. 14, 2017, on East Main Street in downtown Durham. Durham citizens erected and dedicated the statue on May 10, 1924, in memory of “the boys who wore the gray.” News & Observer File photo 
   
   In 2015, the General Assembly passed a law preventing state agencies and local governments from taking down any “object of remembrance” on public property that “commemorates an event, a person, or military service that is part of North Carolina’s history.” 
   
   A state law would be needed to remove a monument or relocate one to a site that’s not of “similar prominence.” 
   
   A person who damages or destroys public property can be charged with a Class 1 misdemeanor under state law, and if convicted, can receive a fine of $500 and 24 hours of community service. 
   
   The granite base on the Main Street soldier, which was dedicated in 1924, says, “In memory of ‘the boys who wore the gray.” 
   
   There are about 120 Civil War memorials across the state, according to the Division of State Historic Sites and Properties. 
   
   About a dozen are dedicated to Union soldiers, and others honor soldiers in a number of wars. About 100 are clearly monuments related to the Confederacy. The monuments are in cemeteries and on public and private properties. ||||| Tweet with a location 
   
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target: – Protesters gathered in North Carolina tore down a 97-year-old Confederate statue in front of a cheering crowd of more than 100 people Monday. Activists used a ladder to put a rope around the statue's neck before a group of people pulled it to the ground, the News & Observer reports. Protesters, who had gathered outside the old courthouse building in Durham in response to the weekend violence in Charlottesville, then kicked and spat on the statue. The bronze statue of a soldier holding a muzzleloading rifle was erected in 1924, with the words "In Memory of the Boys Who Wore the Gray" engraved on the pillar, reports CNN. Police officers filmed the toppling of the statue. No arrests were made, though North Carolina brought in a law in 2015 banning the removal of monuments to the Confederacy from public property without permission from state officials, the AP reports. Police say they didn't arrest anybody because the toppling took place on county property. "The racism and deadly violence in Charlottesville is unacceptable, but there is a better way to remove these monuments," tweeted Gov. Roy Cooper. Protesters called for the removal of other monuments to the Confederacy, including the "Silent Sam" statue on the University of North Carolina's Chapel Hill campus.