Wisconsin protestor who helped pull down abolitionist’s statue sentenced to 6 months in jail


A man who drove the car that helped pull down the statue of a Civil War hero and abolitionist outside of the Wisconsin state Capitol during a night of protests in 2020 has been sentenced to six months in jail.

The statute of Hans Christian Heg was toppled and beheaded during a protest in downtown Madison in June 2020 against police brutality. Protests began a month earlier over the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police and flared up again that June after Madison police arrested a Black activist.

Kelsey D. Nelson, 33, was sentenced for his role in damaging the Heg statue and for looting a nearby jewelry store about a month earlier, the Wisconsin State Journal reported Friday.

STATUE OF CONFEDERATE ROBERT E. LEE TAKEN DOWN IN VIRGINIA

Nelson apologized in court, saying he was “someone who was trying to make a difference.”

A statue of Han Christian Heg

A statue of Han Christian Heg stands outside the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin, on May 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Scott Bauer)

VIRGINIA SUPREME COURT RULES ROBERT E. LEE STATUE CAN BE REMOVED FROM STATE CAPITAL

“I was just a person who woke up and saw the injustice done to a man named George Floyd,” Nelson said. “Am I going to say what I did was right? I am not.”

Nelson was also ordered to pay $5,000 to the jewelry store, a cost to be shared with two other people, and $2,500 to the state Department of Administration for the damage to the Heg statue, a cost to be shared with four others.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Most of the original Heg statue has been restored, but the head was stolen and had to be recreated. A man convicted of misdemeanor theft for stealing the head has since returned it to the state.



Source link

Leave a Comment