San Antonio removes Confederate statue in Travis Park

Crews work Friday September 1 , 2017 to remove the pedestal of the Confederate war memorial at Travis Park in San Antonio, Texas. The statue itself was removed earlier in the morning at about 2:00 a.m. and placed on a flatbed truck. San Antonio's City Council recently voted to have the memorial removed from the park. less Crews work Friday September 1 , 2017 to remove the pedestal of the Confederate war memorial at Travis Park in San Antonio, Texas. The statue itself was removed earlier in the morning at about 2:00 a.m. and ... more Photo: John Davenport, San Antonio Express-News Photo: John Davenport, San Antonio Express-News Image 1 of / 60 Caption Close San Antonio removes Confederate statue in Travis Park 1 / 60 Back to Gallery

The Confederate statue that has overlooked Travis Park for more than 100 years is gone.

Shortly before 2 a.m., workers were overheard saying: “We are floating. Go ahead and take it up easy.”

“10-4 coming up easy,” someone responded. “Alright we’re clear?”

“You're good to go sir,” said someone else.

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And within seconds, the statue was slowly lifted into the air by a crane. Prior to lifting the statue into the air, a man in a cherry picker sawed off parts of the statue, sending a plume of smoke into the air.

A group of about eight bystanders behind a police barricade started cheering loudly and yelled, “Hey hey, ho ho, the racist statue’s got to go."

Hours after the City Council voted 10-1 Thursday to approve its removal, the statue was resting on the bed of a truck.

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The decision came amid rising tension surrounding Confederate monuments across the U.S. and in the same week the North East Independent School District’s board of trustees voted unanimously to rename Robert E. Lee High School.

San Antonio Police Department Chief William McManus said removal of the statue would take several hours.

“We’re going to seal the perimeter off to protect the workers so they can do what they need to do,” he said.

Once the statue is removed, police will escort the statue to its destination, he said.

“We don’t anticipate but we plan for the worst-case scenario,” McManus said.

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He added that no threats have been made against police or workers.

In the park, bicycle officers and portable surveillance cameras were positioned behind fencing that completely enclosed the grounds.

In the surrounding streets, marked and unmarked police vehicles as well as motorcycle cops drove around the park.

Shortly after midnight, both cannons were removed.

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Anna Deluna, 47, arrived to watch the statue’s removal at about midnight with her boyfriend. The two live nearby.

“We just wanted to see it come down,” she said. “It just represents racism and inequality and oppression and we are glad now that it’s coming down. It just seems like nowadays things are really, really difficult with Trump being in power, race relations. Maybe the silver lining is statues like these and attention being brought to them.”

Her boyfriend, Doyle Avant, 53, agreed. He said they just wanted to witness the removal of a piece of history that should not be celebrated.

“It's a good step in the right direction. It's important to remove it,” he said. “And a lot of people don’t want to admit there's racism in this country. Obviously it’s the total opposite and we should talk about it. Don't be afraid to do something.”

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Avant said the removal was necessary.

“I think it's disingenuous to say it’s just history and it’s heritage. The heritage argument is really nonsense,” Avant said.

Although there have been discussions about the statue’s removal for years, it became a high-priority issue this summer when Roberto Treviño and William “Cruz” Shaw filed a council-consideration request, the process used by council members to put proposals before their colleagues.

After weeks of heated debate and protests, Mayor Ron Nirenberg announced his intention to fast-track the vote, a prerogative of the mayor’s office. Thursday afternoon, council members voted to remove and relocate the statue to a museum or another area where it can be viewed within the proper historical context.

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Councilman Manny Pelaez and others referenced the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, as reason to move swiftly here.

That violence and threats aimed at contractors tasked with removing similar monuments in other cities have spurred several cities including Baltimore to pull their monuments down under the cover of darkness with little advanced warning.

In San Antonio, a fence was put up around the park early Thursday morning, and police were stationed at the site all day as a precautionary measure.

kbradshaw@express-news.net

jbeltran@express-news.net

Staff Writers Josh Baugh and Jacob Beltran contributed to this report.