An effigy of Gov. Andy Beshear was hanged from a tree outside the Kentucky state Capitol during a Memorial Day weekend protest. Louisville Courier Journal

In response to an effigy of Gov. Andy Beshear gettinghanged from a tree outside the state Capitol in May, afence is going uparound the Kentucky Governor's Mansion "for the safety of the current and future first families."

Crystal Staley, a spokeswoman for Beshear, said the Kentucky State Police executive security team requested the fence be put up after attendees of a Second Amendment rally on May 24 hanged the effigy on Capitol grounds.

A request for bids for the installation of the security fence was sent out July 8, and contractors have until July 20 to make their bids, said Jill Midkiff, a spokeswoman for the stateFinance and Administration Cabinet.

The fence will be 4 feet tall in most places, except for one area where it will be 5feet, according to state procurement documents.

Midkiff told The Courier Journal that "we cannot provide an estimated value of the contract" until the bids are received.

"Due to the historic nature of the mansion, the security fencing installed must maintain the integrity of the mansions exterior," Midkiff wrote in an email.

"The initial cost of the installation will be paid out of the Department for Facilities and Support Services budget. The private Kentucky Executive Mansion Foundation indicates they plan to vote on the possible reimbursement of this expenditure," Midkiff added."It is believed that Kentuckys Governors Mansion may be the only Executive Mansion in the United States that does not currently have security fencing."

The Second Amendment rally in May, which drew a crowd of more than100 people outside the Capitol in Frankfort, beganas a celebration ofconstitutional rights.

But it eventually turned into a protest of the Beshear administration and the Democratic governor'scoronavirus-related restrictions.

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Near the end of the rally, organizers led the remaining attendees to the Governor's Mansion to attempt to deliver a request for Beshear to resign, with the group chanting, "Come out Andy" and "Resign Andy."

From May: Beshear hanged in effigy as Second Amendment supporters rally at Capitol

More: Kentucky state senator announces he has tested positive for the coronavirus

No one came to the door, as several statetroopers monitoring the rally got out of their vehicles to observethe group but not intervene.

The crowd returned to the Capitol, and an effigy ofBeshear was hanged from a tree while God Bless the U.S.A. played over a loud speaker.

The effigy bore a sign that read, sic semper tyrannis, which means thus always to tyrants." John Wilkes Booth shouted the phrase after assassinating President Abraham Lincoln in 1865.

Staley told The Courier Journal that the "group ofarmed demonstrators crossed over barriers to stand on the front porch of the mansion, just a window pane away from where the Governor and First Lady raise their two young children, and chanted for him to come outside."

As a result of the group also hanging Beshear in effigy, Staley said the Kentucky State Police executive security team "requested a fence be built for the safety of the current and future first families."

The effigy brought swift condemnation from Democrats and Republicans.

In addition, the man who was captured on video hoisting the effigy of Beshear from the tree, identified as the president of the Kentucky ThreePercenters group, was later fired from his job at an auto dealership.

A few days after the rally, Beshear denounced the "mob" that carried out "acelebrationof assassination on our Capitol grounds" and chanted "on the other side of the glass from where I raisemy kids."

"I will not be afraid," the governor said."I will not be bullied.And I will not back down."

Reach Billy Kobin at bkobin@courierjournal.com. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/subscribe.

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Fence to go up around Kentucky Governor's Mansion in response to Beshear effigy - Courier Journal