PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The president of the Portsmouth branch of the NAACP and another chapter member were released from police custody a short time officers handcuffed them and led them away from the Confederate monument in Olde Towne.
Boyd and the other man were part of a protest that joins a series of demonstrations in Hampton Roads denouncing police brutality and systemic racism.
These demonstrations have also revived calls to remove Confederate monuments.
Last week, Governor Northam ordered that the General Robert E. Lee statue in Richmond be removed. During two rallies this week, protesters tore down two other monuments in Richmond -- one of which was a statue of Christopher Columbus that was torn down, set on fire, then thrown into a lake.
Portsmouth City Council put forth a plan on Tuesday to remove the monument on Court Street.
The proposed plan would allocate $100,000 to remove and relocate the statue to another site. Those alternative sites include Cedar Grove or Oak Grove cemeteries.
Some people decided to cover parts of the monument in sheets before protesting around the statue on Wednesday.
Boyd spoke out about the protests over the weekend, saying that he hopes the public outcry will spur policy changes within police departments in Hampton Roads and across the country.
“Nobody said that every officer is bad. Nobody said that," Boyd said. "What we’re saying is, we are not going to allow bad officers to be housed in those departments anymore. Those days are over. We’re not going to allow knees on our neck.”