Washington, D.C. — Police on Thursday built a fence around the Emancipation Memorial, after an activist announced during a Tuesday rally that he intends to tear it down.
The activist, Harvard University junior Glenn Foster, told a crowd of about 200 people that the memorial, which depicts President Abraham Lincoln ending slavery, embodies the “disempowerment of black people that is forced upon us by white people.” And after decrying systemic racism in the United States, he announced that he, along with his newly formed group, The Freedom Neighborhood, would pull it down with ropes on Thursday.
Foster’s proclamation went viral, igniting a heated debate over the memorial, which, although financed entirely by freed slaves and dedicated by abolitionist Frederick Douglass, has long been controversial. That same day, Washington, D.C., shadow Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton announced that she would like to see the “problematic” statue of Lincoln and a newly freed slave “placed in a museum.”
As tension around the memorial tightened, police increased their presence in Lincoln Park, where it is located. At one point on Wednesday, more than eight police vehicles were parked on either side of the statue. And on Thursday, while construction crews enclosed the memorial in a fence and concrete barriers, the U.S. Park Police told the Washington Examiner that they intend to keep the protection up “as long as people keep protesting.”
Because of the increased security, as well as significant media scrutiny, Foster has pivoted in his strategy since his original announcement. During a Zoom call with supporters Thursday afternoon, he said that the new plan is to rip the statue down on Friday, around 6:00 p.m. He’s not worried the fence will stop him.
“Just because there’s a fence there doesn’t mean we’re not going to get our justice by any means,” he said.
Foster said that if protesters on Friday are “quick and efficient,” his plan will work. The Freedom Neighborhood, he explained, has a permit to hold a Friday rally in Lincoln Park, where it will express its disapproval of the memorial and racism in general. The rally will be headlined by Marcus Goodwin, an independent candidate for the district City Council, who will explain the historical problems with the statue.
Goodwin also spoke at the Tuesday rally, where he said that “even in its time,” the memorial was “not appropriate.”
When Goodwin finishes speaking, Foster said he and other speakers will continue riling up the crowd. After about half an hour of this, when the rally is supposed to end, two people will jump over the fence, loop two 30-foot straps around Lincoln’s head, and toss the remaining rope back over to the crowd.
Foster expects that with about 30 people pulling, the crowd can pull the statue down “very quickly.”
And speed is essential, Foster warned. The police are not allowed to make arrests during the rally, so long as it is peaceful. But as soon as people start climbing the fence, they could very easily start to get “trigger happy” or “baton happy,” he said.
But don’t let those threats be a deterrent, Foster added.
“If the police are saying, ‘stop,’ do not stop,” he said.
Once the statue is down, Foster expects his crew to disperse quickly. But if people want to stay and take pictures, that’s fine, too. He doesn’t think it’s likely that the police will do anything once Lincoln is toppled.
“Power to the people!” he said. “We got this. We are going to take it down.”
Still, Foster is worried about the legal implications of his plan. President Trump announced this week that statue-topplers will be treated harshly in Washington. And although Foster doesn’t think Trump will make good on that threat, he’s not taking his chances. On the call, he instructed his followers to make sure that the event looks “spontaneous.”
And if anyone asks what he plans to do on Friday, be coy in answering, he said.
“Say, ‘They are going to do it, but they’re just not going to say it publicly,’” Foster advised.
