DC representative says Pike statue should be in a museum, not restored

Protesters pull down and torch Confederate general statue in DC

In the wake of Juneteenth rallies, protesters pulled down and burned a statue of Albert Pike in D.C. late Friday night.

WASHINGTON - After Black Lives Matter protesters tore down and burned D.C.’s long contentious Albert Pike statue in June, President Donald Trump reportedly vowed to restore it.

But the District’s lone representative on Capitol Hill, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, says not so fast.

U.S. Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) listens during a news conference on District of Columbia statehood June 25, 2020 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The House is scheduled to vote on the District of Columbia statehood bill tomorrow. (Photo by A

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Norton is slated to testify today during a House hearing on her bill to remove the statue of the northerner who fought for the Confederacy from Federal land.

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“General Albert Pike was probably the worst of the memorialized Confederates. He slaughtered Union troops, a war crime, stole funds and was captured by his own troops. His statue should be preserved in a museum, where it can be properly interpreted,” Norton said in a news release.

The Pike statue – which has been at the center of a number of protests in D.C. over the years – was one of many statues destroyed nationwide by protesters looking to stamp out icons linked to racist elements in American history.

The hearing is being held by the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands at 10 a.m.