Statue of Former Pro-Slavery US Chief Justice Taney Removed in Annapolis

A statue of Roger Taney, a former US chief judge of the Supreme Court known for his support of slavery, was removed early Friday from the grounds of the Maryland State House in the city of Annapolis, local media reported.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The statue of Roger Taney was removed less than a week after white nationalists took to the streets to protest authorities' plans to remove the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from a park in Charlottesville, Virginia, resulting in bloody clashes. The confrontations left one woman killed and over 30 people injured. Additionally, two police officers heading to the scene of the violence died in a helicopter crash.

Taney’s statue, which was erected in 1872, was lifted away by a crane at about 2:00 a.m. local time (06:00 GMT), the CBS news broadcaster reported.

The statue was reportedly lowered into a truck and driven away to a storage facility.

The decision to remove the statue was made on Wednesday, after three out of four members of the State House Trust having backed the move.

Roger Brooke Taney served as a Chief Justice between 1836–1864. He is known for his verdict for the Dred Scott v. Sandford case, which posited that Afro-Americans had no right to be US citizens and prevented the government from regulating slavery in federal territories acquired after the creation of the United States.