Last Monday, protesters and a few counter-protesters gathered around the Confederate monument on the lawn of the Bastrop County courthouse. Meanwhile, inside, more citizens argued for the monument’s removal, with a few arguing against, during the public comment of the commissioners court meeting.
Cheryl Lee, a Bastrop resident who organized the protest, said she first heard about the Confederate monuments at the courthouse while participating in a Rodney Reed rally in November. She began working on efforts to have the monuments removed at the beginning of the year, but COVID-19 disrupted her efforts until the protests against George Floyd’s death. Earlier ...