Monument to be returned
The state is returning the Confederate monument at the Capitol to the United Daughters of the Confederacy, which installed it more than 50 years ago.
The Arizona government is returning the Confederate monument outside the state Capitol to the organization that installed the statue more than 50 years ago.
The United Daughters of the Confederacy said it would move the monument to private property, along with another monument near U.S. 60 outside Gold Canyon.
Civil rights activists renewed calls to remove the statue last year and most recently in June, amid nationwide protests against racism after the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis.
Secretary of State Katie Hobbs suggested that the state move the monument into the care of the Capitol museum.
The monument’s removal eventually became a rallying cry of the ongoing protests, and state police on June 19 arrested a man for throwing red paint at the statue.
State law says the Department of Administration
may relocate monuments on the plaza across from the Capitol but Gov. Doug Ducey mostly sought to stay out of the debate, insisting only that there should be a public process to decide the fate of the stone statue.
In a June 30 letter to the Department of Administration, members of the United Daughters of the Confederacy asked the state “re-gift” the monument to their organization.
“These monuments were gifted to the state and are now in need of repair, but due to the current political climate, we believe it unwise to repair them where they are located,” the letter said.
The group said it would not request nor accept any state funds or assistance in relocating the monuments.
The Department of Administration did not announce when the statue would be moved.