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Demonstrators Pull Down Confederate Monument In Durham

“No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA!” the crowd chanted.

Demonstrators on Monday night toppled a Confederate monument outside of a court house in Durham, North Carolina.

During a public protest, a woman climbed the statue and tied a rope around it at around 7:00pm, according to Derrick Lewis, a reporter with local CBS affiliate in Durham. The crowd then pulled the rope and the statue fell.

"No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA!" the protesters are heard chanting as the statue is pulled down to the ground. Some demonstrators then kicked or punched the fallen statue.

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The monument stood in front of the Old Durham County Courthouse for decades, having been dedicated in 1924, according to a website maintained by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill that documents Southern history.

The monument, about 15 feet in height, depicts an armed and uniformed soldier. "In memory of the boys who wore the gray," reads the inscription on its granite base, which also bears the Confederate seal.

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"It's an awesome day. I've walked by this statue for the last six years ― I knew someone was going to topple it," said Josh Reynolds of Durham, who dropped by along with his 4-year-old daughter Ida after hearing about what had happened.

There are more than 700 Confederate monuments installed in public areas across 31 states, the USA Today notes. They can be found in public parks, courthouses and capitol buildings, among other locations. But those that remain have become increasingly controversial and are condemned by many as racist symbols.

A confederate monument was at the center of weekend protests that turned deadly in Charlottesville, Virginia. White supremacists descended on Charlottesville over the weekend to protest the city's removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. The protest exploded into violence and death on Saturday when a 20-year-old white supremacist named James Alex Fields allegedly drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing one and injuring at least 19 others.

Earlier this year, New Orleans removed four prominent Confederate statues, but the incident in Charlottesville has led to numerous state leaders calling for the removal of their own monuments.

Acts of protest sprung up in other cities across the country Monday night. Hundreds gathered for "no hate"rallies in Minneapolis and Washington, D.C., where protesters could be heard chanting, "This is what democracy looks like."

Outside Trump Tower in New York, thousands of protesters displayed their scorn for the president with slogans like "No Trump, no KKK" and "New York hates you."

Yet in Boston, a 17-year-old allegedly threw a rock through one of the New England Holocaust Memorial's glass windows. It's the second time this summer that the monument has been vandalized.

Kate Sheppard contributed reporting. The article has been updated with information about protests in other cities.

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