Hundreds gathered in the Plaza de la Constitucion on Sunday afternoon in support of, and against, the St. Augustine City Commissions decision to remove the Confederate War Memorial.

Sunday afternoon a man sat on a trolley, looked to his left at the demonstrations taking place inside the Plaza de la Constitucion and moved his young son to ensure he was closer to the cursing, chanting, protesting and revved engines that filled the square than the child.

At the heart of the plaza, fenced off from the world, stands the purpose for the demonstrations: St. Augustine's Confederate War Memorial.

Nearly a dozen protests have taken place in St. Augustine and St. Johns County this summer demanding racial equity, equality and accountability for law enforcement. One of the the local demands at these protests has been to remove the Confederate War Memorial.

Last month, the St. Augustine City Commission, by a 3-2 vote, moved to remove the obelisk from public property. The first group of demonstrators in the plaza on Sunday vehemently disagree with the decision.

Sunday's demonstrations, for and against the removal of the memorial, were the most vehement of the summer. No arrests were made; but St. Augustine police repeatedly intervened to ensure violence did not erupt.

Emotions are running high in downtown #StAugustine at the Plaza de la Constitucion. @staugrecord pic.twitter.com/i33pQwFgfP

Members of the North Florida Patriots and other organizations first arrived in the Plaza Sunday morning in support of the obelisk that was moved onto public property in 1879.

Jaime Parham, a member of the North Florida Patriots, would like to see the memorial left alone.

"It's not going to go," Parham said. "We're not going to let it go."

Parham is a St. Johns resident. He would like to see a decision on the memorial placed on the ballot for the entirety of St. Johns County, not solely St. Augustine residents.

"We put contextualization to it, as they have requested," Parham said. "That's all we're willing to do. It's in its place of honor. If they say they are moving it, but they are going to keep it fixed or they are not going to destroy it, it's still taking it from its place of honor. Its an American war veterans memorial, and it's in its rightful place of honor."

Infiltrated within the North Florida Patriots were more than three dozen men who identified with the Proud Boys. Founded in 2016, the Proud Boys have been classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center

Not every member of the North Florida Patriots, or who was in downtown to support the monument remaining in place, was in favor of The Proud Boys' support. Their belief was The Proud Boys were unnecessarily antagonizing the Black Lives Matter protesters with rhetoric that included "(expletive) Antifa!" as well as other language that could be perceived as racist and/or sexist.

Black Lives Matter demonstrators were slated to arrive at the plaza at 1 p.m. Before they could march into the plaza as was frequently the case in June the North Florida Patriots met them. The Black Lives Matter protesters were hemmed into a 30-yard portion of the plaza near the Andrew Young Crossing and St. George Street.

After approximately 20 minutes, the Black Lives Matter protesters left the Plaza and marched north along St. George Street. As the Black Lives Matter demonstrators retreated, the North Florida Patriots took up what they considered defensive positions within the Plaza.

Though both organizations deplored the rhetoric of the other, the yelling, cursing and insults were more invective than in previous demonstrations.

Some attempted to find common ground.

Brooksville resident Mario Fulgium was among those in the square on Sunday. Frequently, he approached former St. Augustine resident Tony Brown in an attempt to find commonality.

Fulgium would like to see the monument remain. But he admitted Brown made valid points.

"His whole crew is yelling Black Lives Matter," Fulgium said. "Well, we are passionate. Red-blooded lives matter. You bleed blood, you bleed red. That gentleman understands that part of it. We don't want no one hurt. We want (a) peaceful (protest)."

Fulgium believes removing the monument is erasing history. He argues that history is not always pretty, but by removing the statue, it strips away an opportunity to learn about it.

St. Augustine is the oldest city in the United States. Over the last 455 years, this city has been governed by the Spanish, British and United States. On its outskirts, sits a fort that was a haven for runaway slaves. One hundred yards away from Sunday's protests is a market where enslaved people were bought and sold.

At the heart of the Plaza stands an obelisk that is taller, and more prominent, than the monument to observe the local veterans who died serving World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War and Operation Desert Storm.

Brown has previously told The Record he would like to see the monument be moved onto private property.

Sunday showed fixing hearts will not be simple.

Serena Milne is a Flagler College student who has attended multiple protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement this summer. She would like to see a racial reckoning in the country. That includes removing the obelisk from downtown St. Augustine.

"We have to change our approach," Milne said. "Yelling is not doing anything. We have to be willing to have conversations."

Before Milne could finish the thought, two young Black women walked around the Loring monument and chanted "All lives don't matter until Black lives matter."

In response, two white men, cursed at them while yelling "All lives matter."

An argument ensued. Neither side listened. Instead, the two men and two women attempted to verbally overpower the other.

"Today, I had people look in my face saying 'Black lives do not matter,'" Milne said. "They were screaming at me. I have never seen this type of anger from people I have never met."

Originally posted here:

Protests in St. Augustine show removal of Confederate monuments still divisive topic - St. Augustine Record