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Wisconsin protesters tear down statue of anti-slavery abolitionist, decapitate it, throw it in lake

justthenews.com

Protesters in Madison, Wisconsin, on Tuesday night ripped down the statue of a notable anti-slavery abolitionist and Civil War Union colonel, cutting off the monument’s head and throwing the ruined sculpture in a nearby lake as part of an ongoing anti-statue movement sweeping the country.

Hans Christian Heg was a native Norwegian who came to the U.S. in 1840 and rose to become a prominent anti-slavery activist and member of the then-burgeoning Republican Party.

He was made a colonel in the 15th Wisconsin Volunteer Regiment during the Civil War, after which he saw engagement in several battles before being mortally wounded at the Battle of Chickamauga.

Norwegian-American sculptor Paul Fjelde installed the statue of Heg outside of the Wisconsin statehouse in 1925. Last night, protesters “took control of a towing vehicle” and ripped the monument down, according to local media reports.

Following that, the activists cut off the statue’s head and threw it into nearby Lake Monona.

Another nearby statue titled “Forward,” one depicting a woman resolutely gazing forward with her arm outstretched, was also ripped down last night and left in the middle of a nearby street. The Wisconsin Historical Society describes that statue as “an allegory of devotion and progress.”