A Georgia organization, the Georgia Minutemen, LLC, founded by Ray McBerry, has filed a lawsuit against all four Henry County, Georgia commissioners as individuals, meaning they are being sued personally. In Georgia, when public officials vote for unlawful acts as these allegedly did in July when they voted to remove the century-old Confederate monument on McDonough Square in McDonough, Georgia, they are not protected from personal lawsuits against them.
The McDonough Square monument was removed July 29, 2020, and other laws were apparently broken by the county in their extreme haste to remove the monument.
The commissioners’ votes allegedly violated Georgia’s strong Monument Protection Act, Georgia Code 50-3-1.
If the Georgia Minutemen prevail, the four commissioners, three Democrats and a Republican, as well as the county manager who facilitated the monument removal, will have to pay out of their own pockets triple “the cost of replacing or restoring the original monument to its rightful place on McDonough Square, all attorneys fees, and exemplary damages in an amount decided by a jury” according to a September 10 press release. There could also be punitive damages.
This is a promising approach! Camps should get their legal people to look at what the Georgia Minutemen are doing to see if you can do the same or something similar. We should think outside the box as our ancestors had to do constantly since they were outnumbered four to one and outgunned 100 to one.
I have included, below, a press release and update from the Georgia Minutemen that go into detail on their excellent lawsuit and what can be done to help them. Their contact information is at the end of this blog post.
North Carolina has had as number of flagrant violations of their Heritage Protection Act (HPA), the Monuments Law of 2015 [N.C.G.S. 100.2-1 (b) and (b) (1)] and if there is any way to start suing those public officials as individuals, it should be done ASAP. If possible, a suit should be brought against the former president of UNC who allowed the destruction of Silent Sam and removal of the base of the statue from the campus.
I don’t know what the law is in Alabama but the mayor of Mobile, a Republican named Sandy Stimpson, who removed the magnificent statue of Admiral Raphael Semmes on June 5, 2020, should be targeted for a personal lawsuit if one is possible. Sandy Stimpson is not good enough to polish the shoes of Raphael Semmes.
Heritage groups in every state in America should investigate this strategy. ALL public officials, PRESENT AND PAST, who have broken monument protection laws, should be targeted and brought to justice in a court of law, then voted out of office.
WONDERFUL! Now on to other violators and haters of Confederate history!!
Happy to see legal against these politicians.
Outstanding hope they lose everything
More of this kind of action needs to take place to protect our monuments!
Gene Kizer please email me. I think you are kin to my friend Kathleen Wray Beltran. She is UDC member and Benjamin W Kizer of Henry County Georgia is her 3rd great grandfather!
Hi Karen, I just read your comment. Thanks for writing! I was born and raised in Charleston. My family on Dad’s side comes from St. George, SC. Gene