DALLAS (WBAP/KLIF News) — The University of Texas is being sued by the Sons of Confederate Veterans over the removal of four statues at UT Austin.
CNN photo
The lawsuit charges the statues were illegally taken down under cover of darkness one week after the violence in Charlottesville, Va. UT President Greg Fenves said it was done at night and without prior announcement to reduce the chances of conflict and violence. University attorney Patti Ohlendorf told the Austin American-Statesman that President Fenves did ask for legal guidance before making the decision and that the move is completely legal.
It’s not the first time the Texas chapter of SCV has sued the university. In 2015 it filed suit over the removal of a statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, according to the Dallas Morning News. In this case the organization claims the statues were a bequest to the university by Confederate veteran and former UT regent George Littlefield prior to his death in 1920.
The lawsuit claims, “The statues were part of a bequest Maj. Littlefield made to the university that included funds for the promotion of American history from the Southern perspective.”
Sons of Confederate Veterans contends the four statues were worth a collective $250 thousand when they were commissioned and may be worth up to $3 million today.
The statues in question include sculptures of Confederate Gens. Robert E. Lee and Albert Sidney Johnston, Confederate Postmaster John H. Reagan, and late Gov. James Stephen Hogg.
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