A Confederate soldier monument at the Tarrant County Courthouse will be relocated in light of the death of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody.

Commissioners voted 4-0 for the removal of the monument, with Commissioner J.D. Johnson abstaining.

The monument was erected in 1953 by a local chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, according to Judge B. Glen Whitley.

"I'm asking that we take an action today of reconciliation and healing. It is perhaps appropriate that this item comes before the court today on the date of the final memorial service for Mr. George [Floyd],” Commissioner Roy Charles Brooks said at the June 9 meeting.

The monument reads, “In memory of Confederate soldiers 1861-1865 and their descendants who served in the Spanish American War, World War I and World War II.”


"I believe [the monument] represents, perhaps, in some instances, the best of people, but it also represents the worst in people,” Commissioner Devan Allen said at the meeting. "And I'm here because people asked me to think about our future. And while I certainly want to be sensitive to our history, I have to be much more concerned about our future. And [it] is for that reason that I see no other choice but to support removal of the monument.”

Whitley said there is more work ahead in ending racism than just the removal of the monument.

"We should not have any monuments on Tarrant County public property that [are] believed ... to be a symbol of racism,” he said. "Monuments should be about honoring and lifting people up, not putting people down."