Caravan of cars demonstrate against Franklin County Confederate monument

Franklin County voters will decide fate of monument during this election

ROCKY MOUNT, Va. – A group of protesters took their opposition of Franklin County’s Confederate monument to the street Saturday afternoon.

The “Caravan For Justice" slowed their cars and honked their horns outside of the Franklin County Courthouse in Rocky Mount.

Voters in Franklin County will decide whether or not to relocate the statue during the November election.

Henry Turnage, who led the caravan, believes the statue no longer represents his home county.

“It’s time to move Franklin County forward," Turnage, who is Black, said. "It’s holding us back economically. My daughter wants to be a lawyer; she can’t walk in that building and be a lawyer.”

A Confederate monument has stood tall outside of the courthouse since 1910. The original was destroyed after a truck crashed into it in 2007, and its replacement was dedicated in 2010.