The UNC System released on Friday an after-action report conducted in review of the Silent Sam Confederate monument being toppled on the UNC – Chapel Hill campus last August.

Barricades were not used to prevent protesters from getting close to the monument. After the rally started across Franklin Street at Peace and Justice Plaza, the protesters walked large banners up to the monument and placed them around the statue. Several hours later, the statue was pulled down from its pedestal.

That prompted thought by some that police were told to allow the protesters to take down the statue.

But the after-action assessment conducted by Parker Poe law firm found “no evidence of a conspiracy between UNC-CH and any protesters or any other individuals to remove Silent Sam.”

The report says that “to the contrary” UNC Police “take their obligation to protect the safety and security of their campus seriously and are committed to finding way to improve.”

The assessment advises that campus police need to reevaluate how the department plans and responds to protests.

“Rather than small, student-led demonstrations, UNC-CH faces an increasing threat from outside protest organizations and highly organized, non-student groups and networks who are not associated with UNC-CH and do not have the best interests of the UNC-CH’s community in mind.”

The report goes on to say that three areas were identified as playing some role in the “forceful removal” of Silent Sam: ineffective reporting structures and communications practices between senior administration leadership and the UNC-CH police, inadequate event planning and failure to synthesize and assess pre-event information and the lack of a formal protocol regarding decision-making responsibility for law enforcement related matters.

After the statue was removed, several subsequent rallies brought groups with opposing views of the monument to McCorkle Place. The remaining base of the monument was then removed in mid-January on orders from then-Chancellor Carol Folt. The UNC System Board of Governors then accepted Folt’s resignation as of January 31. Five members of that board are now working with the campus to develop a recommendation for the future of the monument by mid-March.

You can read the full after-action report here.

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