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Maya Little, a University of North Carolina graduate student, has been found guilty of defacing a public statue months after smearing blood and red ink on the Silent Sam statue.
Little was originally arrested for the charges in April and the Silent Sam statue was eventually knocked down by protestors on Monday, August 20.
The verdict was handed down to Little on Monday, October 15 — a day after testimony from Chapel Hill and University of North Carolina campus police officials.
Little, who testified in her own defense, previously said that she poured the red paint and blood on the statue to provide “contextualization to what she views as a racist statue.”
At this time, the presiding judge is assessing how much Little can afford to pay in fines and court costs.
via ABC:
At the time [of her arrest], she expressed frustration with UNC Chancellor Carol Folt about the statue’s continued presence on the campus.
“These last five years Carol Folt has been chancellor and she has not taken a single step towards removing Silent Sam,” Little wrote in a prepared statement. “The armed, Confederate soldier dedicated and built by racists during Jim Crow has remained. However, the dedication and courage of each successive group of students fighting for racial equality at UNC has made our message louder and clearer. The threat of Neonazis and white supremacists marching on our communities has made it more urgent.”
The polemical statue was erected in 1913 and was located on the north side of UNC’s campus facing Franklin Street, before it was knocked down by protesters in August.
A rally for Little and her supporters happened near the pedestal of the Silent Sam monument on Monday, October 15.
