Jeremy Ordaz and Laura Hammarstrom have been charged with damaging the Confederate statue on the Bentonville Square, the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports. The alleged incident took place in September, and part of the statue’s musket was broken off. According to a probably cause affidavit, Hammarstrom told a police officer that the statue had been upsetting her for years and she was trying to tear it down. The musket was allegedly broken by Ordaz, using a hammer, according to the affidavit.
The statue has attracted increasing controversy in recent years. Benton County could remove or relocated it but has chosen to keep it in the Square. Autumn Tolbert wrote last month on the “Shame of Bentonville.”
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