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Statue of Confederate soldier returns to Judiciary Square
D.C.’s only outdoor statue of a Confederate soldier is making its return to Judiciary Square. The decision is part of the Trump administration's push to restore monuments across the country.
WASHINGTON - D.C.’s only outdoor statue of a Confederate soldier is making its return to Judiciary Square.
The decision is part of the Trump administration's push to restore monuments across the country.
What’s happening:
The bronze statue honoring Albert Pike, a former Confederate officer and Freemason leader, was returned to its original site near 3rd and D Streets NW on Saturday. It now sits just steps away from D.C. Police Headquarters, where it originally stood for more than a century before being taken down in 2020.
The move is all part of President Donald Trump’s executive order to "restore truth and sanity" to American history. The Albert Pike statue had been in storage for more than five years. But here it is, back at Judiciary Square.
The backstory:
The statue was originally dedicated in 1901, but Pike’s legacy has long been controversial because of his Confederate ties. In fact, the D.C. Council petitioned for its removal back in 1992.
One local historian said Pike’s reinstatement is both surprising and inappropriate.
"He's a strange… figure for them to want to reinstate. I wouldn't agree if there was an attempt to reinstate, say, a Robert E. Lee, for example, or a Jeb Stewart, or a Stonewall Jackson, but at least that would make sense to me, that those are figures that many people see in a very heroic context," said Dr. Anne Sarah Rubin, a history professor at UMBC.
"To have that statue sitting of Albert Pike sitting up there, sitting for over 100 years in the middle of the majority Black city is in fact a huge insult to much of the population of D.C. and so I think it’s inappropriate to be there," Rubin went on to say.
The backstory:
The statue was torn down, spray-painted, and set on fire during the George Floyd protests in 2020. At the time, demonstrators said its removal symbolized a rejection of racism and Confederate glorification.
Now, the National Park Service says its restoration aligns with federal law under historic preservation guidelines and President Trump’s executive order.
Not everyone is opposed to its return.
"There’s a lot of art that I don’t like but I respect it as a snapshot of that moment of that culture and if you look at it it’s very finely done — it’s an example of phenomenal and significant bronze sculpture that should be respected as a piece of art," said Neil W. McCade, a D.C. resident.
Currently, the statue is surrounded by a chain-link fence with signs reading "historic preservation work in progress."
What's next:
A bill has been introduced in Congress to remove the statue once again, leaving its fate uncertain — and reigniting debate over how America chooses to remember its past.