Groups suing against the removal of the statue will have to defend their stance during an upcoming court hearing.
The tearing down of a memorial statue for Confederate soldiers was halted Monday by a judge appointed by Donald Trump.
U.S. District Judge Rossie Alston of the Eastern District of Virginia issued a temporary restraining order in favor of two groups that have fought against the removal of a Confederate memorial at Arlington National Cemetery (ANC). Work had already commenced on the cemetery grounds to dismantle the statue but has been stopped because of the ruling.
Defend Arlington, one of the groups in favor of keeping the statue, filed a lawsuit on Sunday requesting the restraining order. That group, along with an affiliated group called Save Southern Heritage Florida, argues in the suit that the Department of Defense (DOD) and others acted hastily in the statue’s removal. The suit says that gravesites located around the memorial were allegedly mistreated or not taken care of in connection with the removal process.
“The removal will desecrate, damage, and likely destroy the Memorial longstanding at ANC as a grave marker and impede the Memorial’s eligibility for listing on the National Register of Historic Places,” the lawsuit states.
A court hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday, with the temporary injunction expiring at 5 p.m. the same day. Alston’s order instructed the parties in the case to be prepared to discuss other related cases involving such statues, adding in a footnote that any “untrue or exaggerated” representations of gravesite disturbances may lead to sanctions.
