Activists descended upon the Durham County courthouse in North Carolina Thursday morning to rally in support of fellow demonstrators, who were turning themselves in to authorities for their participation in the fucking awesome removal of a Confederate statue. According to the Herald Sun, "about 100" activists gathered outside the courthouse before making their way down to the jail to symbolically turn themselves in.
Activists without an arrest warrant, however, were ultimately blocked from being booked into jail.
Thursday morning, 37-year-old Elena Everett and 24-year-old Aaron Caldwell turned themselves in after being informed of outstanding warrants related to the Confederate monument toppling, which—it's worth saying again—was fucking awesome. A third person also turned themselves in, but their name wasn't made immediately available.
Other activists were arrested earlier this week: 35-year-old Dante Emmanuel Strobino, 36-year-old Peter Gull Gilbert, and 24-year-old Ngoc Loan Tran. The group was taken in Wednesday while attending a hearing for Takiyah Fatima Thompson, 22. Thompson confessed to tying a rope around the neck of the Confederate statue to ease the task of toppling that ugly shit to the ground. She was arrested Tuesday.
Thompson and the activists arrested Wednesday have been charged with disorderly conduct by injury of a statue and damage to real property, both misdemeanors. They've also been charged with participation in a riot with property damage exceeding $1,500 and a related inciting riot count, which are felonies.
Multiple crowdfunding campaigns have been launched to help with the activists’ legal fees. Prior to deleting her Twitter account, Solange spoke out in support of her "new hero" Takiya Thompson.
"Deleting my twitter soon, but before I dip when we gonna pull up? & what we got to do to get my new hero Takiya Thompson free?" Solange tweeted. Thompson has since been released. A court date is set for September.
