County Council meeting goes virtual following protest over confederate monument

EASTON, Md. – The Talbot County Council is taking a stand against what they call “disruptive” demonstrations.

They say protestors are making it harder for them to do their job.

“So banging on drums, blowing horns, jumping on grates, blowing car horns those kinds of things were just not conducive to conducting business,” said Talbot County Council President Corey Pack.

On August 25th, the county council says protestors came out in full force outside their windows calling for the removal of the Talbot Boys monument.

This comes after the county council voted last month to keep it at the courthouse.

In response, they’ll be holding their next meeting virtually, but the President of the Talbot County NAACP branch says their protests are meant to be disruptive.

“That’s what a protest is meant to do,” said NAACP Talbot County Branch President Richard Potter.

“It’s meant to bring cause and bring light to an issue that that group or those constituents are definitely making their voices known for,” said Potter.

Potter adds the protests have always been peaceful and he says their goal is to simply make their voices heard.

“The courthouse grounds are sentimental and they’re supposed to be non-bias so that people can go and seek a fair and just trial, but yet you have a monument that depicts a group of individuals to be in bondage,” said Potter.

The council president tells 47ABC they plan on blocking protestors from getting too close to the council chambers so that they can resume in-person meetings, but protestors say they’ll continue to do whatever it takes to push for change.

“I do not see the community stopping I do see them growing, I see them becoming more strategic,” said Potter.

Potter says county council members need to have more dialogue with protestors moving forward.

Meanwhile, the county council president adds that the protests have also disrupted businesses near the courthouse.