As communities across the United States enact or expedite plans to take down monuments revering those who advocated for white supremacy and slavery, police in Durham, North Carolina have arrested four people for their alleged roles in toppling a statue of a Confederate soldier.

Meanwhile in Charlottesville, Virginia—where white supremacists and neo-Nazis violently demonstrated over the weekend—police have yet to arrest anyone for viciously beating Deandre Harris, a 20-year-old black man, even though photo and video footage of five white men assaulting Harris has been virally circulated on social media and televised news for several days.

Earlier in a parking garage in #Charlottesville - white supremacists beat this black kid w/poles. [Photo for by @zdroberts @NationofChange] pic.twitter.com/LLPBPjb8si — Zach D Roberts (@zdroberts) August 12, 2017

Harris and his friends—who helped him escape the violent attack to seek medical attention—were in the area to protest a gathering of white supremacists who were demonstrating at Emancipation Park in response to the city's plans to remove a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee.

"They were beating me with poles. I have eight staples in my head, a broken wrist and a chipped tooth," Harris told The Root.

"The beating happened right beside the Police Department, and no police were there to help me at all. My mother is now thinking about suing the city of Charlottesville," Harris added.

While reporting indicates police may have some leads in the assault on Harris, no arrests have been made or charges filed.



"Despite widespread internet video footage of the beating," the New York Daily News reported Wednesday, "not a single suspect was in custody three days after the bloody assault."

Harris's beating has been broadcast for the world to see, but the inaction by law enforcement was not limited to this case. Even though city and state officials spent weeks preparing for the demonstrations, and Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe eventually declared a state of emergency to shut down demonstrations Saturday, dozens of people were injured and 32-year-old Heather Heyer was killed.

As reporters on the ground for ProPublica reported: "The police did little to stop the bloodshed. Several times, a group of assault-rifle-toting militia members from New York State, wearing body armor and desert camo, played a more active role in breaking up fights."

Many people turned to Twitter to encourage members of the public to help identify the men in the video—which has produced some possible leads—but also to express frustration with the disparity between how law enforcement has responded to five men beating Harris in Charlottesville, and the protesters who took down the statue in Durham.

A woman who helped take down the statue in Durham was just arrested.



But NONE of these men have been arrested. NONE.



America. 2017. pic.twitter.com/P7zgJsQvUW — Shaun King (@ShaunKing) August 15, 2017

No one has been arrested for beating this child with poles, next to a police station (!!) with ample documentation in #Charlotteville. https://t.co/oYk5ZPIkbu — (((Schwartzman))) (@fancynancynyc) August 16, 2017

In NC police used video to arrest someone who hurt a statue. In VA, police aren't using video to arrest anyone who hurt Deandre Harris. — Jamie Bradway (@jbradway) August 16, 2017

Well.... she's Black.... so SHE will be held accountable for her "crime" yet none for these Neo nazi attempted murderers. They're protected! https://t.co/RPShplqF4n — Claudia Jordan (@claudiajordan) August 16, 2017

White Supremacists beat Deandre Harris—no arrests made



Takiyah Thompson removed a White Supremacist statue—arrested immediately#Priorities pic.twitter.com/N4byqoXJ7q — Qasim Rashid, Esq. (@MuslimIQ) August 16, 2017

In Durham, as police began arresting people in relation to the toppled statue on Tuesday, North Carolina's Democratic governor called for the state and local governments to work together to remove the state's remaining Confederate monuments.

"Our Civil War history is important, but it belongs in textbooks and museums ," Gov. Roy Cooper wrote on Medium. "These monuments should come down."

To implement Cooper's proposal, "the Republican-controlled legislature would have to repeal the 2015 law restricting the removal of monuments. Cooper says he's also asked state officials to determine costs and logistics for removing Confederate monuments from state property," the Washington Post reports.