An organization that has staged dozens of protests against a Confederate monument in Alabama has sued the city of Florence, accusing it of trying to limit demonstrations in violation of free speech guarantees.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday by Project Say Something and its founder, Camille Bennett, says the city and Police Chief Ron Tyler are trying to prevent protests by deciding when, where and how they can demonstrate against the monument, which is located in Lauderdale County Court.
Bennett said the NGO she founded eight years ago has tried to negotiate with the city, the TimesDaily newspaper reported.
“Alabama has a long history of confronting racial injustice through peaceful protest, and it is imperative that we not lose that ability to confront power when the situation calls for it,” Bennett said in a statement.
The city has not responded to the lawsuit and city officials declined to comment.
The monument was erected in 1903, when descendants of the Confederacy installed them throughout the southern United States to honor veterans and perpetuate the myth of the “lost cause”, according to which the reason for the secession that gave rise to the Civil War was not slavery. Project Say Something started daily protests against the monument in 2020 following the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis.