WASHINGTON 鈥� The controversial statue of former Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney was removed from outside the Maryland State House in Annapolis early Friday.
Shortly after midnight Friday, a crew using a crane came in and started taking the statue down. It was lifted up on a truck and driven away. The whole process took less than two hours.
It was done with little fanfare or warning, while Gov. Larry Hogan, who supported the statue鈥檚 removal, is said to be out of town.
Hogan had called for the immediate removal of the statue earlier in the week following the protests that turned deadly in Charlottesville, Virginia, last weekend.
鈥淲hile we cannot hide from our history 鈥� nor should we 鈥� the time has come to make clear the difference between properly acknowledging our past and glorifying the darkest chapters of our history,鈥� .
The vote to remove the Taney statue came Wednesday from the State House Trust board.
The decision didn鈥檛 sit well with Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., president of the Maryland Senate and a member of the State House Trust Board, which Hogan chairs.
The vote was taken by email, which is not unusual 鈥� WBAL reports that the four-member board has only met twice since 2010. But Miller said in a letter to Hogan that he requested a public meeting on the removal of the Taney statue.
Miller criticized 鈥渢he hidden nature of the process鈥� regarding the email vote, saying that 鈥淭his was certainly a matter of such consequence that the transparency of a public meeting and public conversation should have occurred.鈥�
He added that Taney鈥檚 鈥渃omplex history鈥� included many laudable acts, including the freeing of his own slaves early in his life and calling slavery 鈥渁 blot on our national character.鈥�
Taney, a Maryland native, is best known as the chief justice who penned the 1857 Dred Scott decision. It denied citizenship to black slaves and descendants of slaves, that slavery couldn鈥檛 be banned in new territories of the United States, and that 鈥渢he enslaved African race were not intended to be included鈥� in the words 鈥渁ll men are created equal鈥� in the Declaration of Independence.
On Friday morning, sticking up from the bushes where the statue used to be was a green box roughly 10 by 15 by 10 feet, containing the base.
Throughout the morning, people made it a point to stop by and look at the box, taking pictures and staring at what was left of the longtime statue. Many people were happy the statue is gone, but others lamented one more piece of history taken away.
Beth Terranova said, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know his judicial history, but clearly he has been remembered for the one truly horrendous decision he ever made. Unfortunately, that was a decision that I think was very detrimental to our country, so I approve of the removal of the statue. 鈥� It just gives the appearance of Annapolis being a much more inclusive and welcoming city.鈥�
Steve Dudley wasn鈥檛 thrilled with the removal, but was resigned to it: 鈥淚t鈥檚 part of our history, but with today鈥檚 society you cannot leave it up. If we keep this up we鈥檒l be taking everything down,鈥� he said, 鈥渂ecause everyone鈥檚 done something. 鈥� We all know what was wrong as a society.聽 But, still, it鈥檚 history.鈥�
Jessica Daigle said, 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 great.聽 I鈥檝e been wondering what鈥檚 been taking so long. It鈥檚 a slap in the face to African-Americans and that鈥檚 not right.聽 That鈥檚 not what we鈥檙e supposed to be about.鈥�
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 right a wrong, but you can stop being wrong.鈥�
The statue of Taney will be moved to a Maryland State Archives secure storage facility,聽
It’s unclear what might end up in the spot where the base of the statue still sits.
草莓传媒’s Rick Massimo contributed to this report.
