RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - More protesters were arrested Wednesday for participating in a demonstration that toppled a Confederate statue in North Carolina, and more monuments were vandalized as well.
The statue in Durham came down Monday night when a protester climbed a ladder to attach a rope and others on the ground pulled the bronze soldier from its pedestal.
On Wednesday morning, Dante Strobino and Ngoc Loan Tran were led away in handcuffs when they came to a court hearing for Takiyah Thompson, the woman who climbed the ladder. Another demonstrator, Peter Gull Gilbert, was arrested later.
The Durham County Sheriff's office said all four arrested so far were charged with two felonies related to inciting and participating in a riot that damaged property, along with two misdemeanors.
Many of the protesters were affiliated with the Workers World Party, which helped organize the demonstration in response to deadly violence over the weekend during a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Thompson said toppling the statue was justified.
The sheriff's office said Wednesday that it plans more arrests. Deputies took video during the protest but declined to intervene because the sheriff said he wanted to avoid a hostile confrontation and injuries.