***** August 16, 2017 UPDATE TO PETITION***** Since we started this petition on August 14, 2017, we have gotten an incredible response from the Decatur and DeKalb communities, with over 1,200 signatures in less than 24 hours. We have also heard from several city, county, and state leaders. From Decatur officials, we have heard DeKalb County owns and maintains the monument, and thus the City cannot remove it. From DeKalb County officials, we have heard that state law OCGA 50-3-1(b)(2) prohibits the removal of such monuments, and thus the County cannot remove it. From State Representative Howard Mosby and State Senator Elena Parent, we have heard that there is little prospect for amending or repealing this law in the state legislature, and thus there is no foreseeable way for removing the monument. These responses are not acceptable. The monument can and must be removed. Why should we remove the confederate monument? The Confederate monument opposes the values of Decatur and DeKalb citizens. We are a diverse and inclusive community, but this monument reveres white supremacy and the enslavement of African Americans. Children of color look up at this monument daily, seeing a symbol of an ideology that stripped their rights as citizens and dignity as humans. The monument was erected 42 years after the Civil War in order to celebrate the atrocities of the Jim Crow South. It has no place in our square today. How can we remove the confederate monument? OCGA 50-3-1(b)(2) allows for “appropriate measures for the preservation, protection, and interpretation of such monuments.” Recent acts against confederate memorials in Piedmont Park and Durham, North Carolina give DeKalb County clear justification to use this “appropriate measures” provision to relocate the Decatur confederate monument. Further, as Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh noted in her statement regarding the removal of confederate statues in Baltimore, these types of monuments are a threat to public safety. We also do not want white supremacists and neo-nazis coming into the City of Decatur inciting violence and harming our diverse citizenry We demand that DeKalb County take this action immediately. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Original Petition from August 14, 2017: We the citizens of Decatur and DeKalb County Georgia want the "Lost Cause" Confederate Memorial removed from downtown Decatur Square (behind the historic courthouse). The memorial was erected in 1908 at the height of Jim Crow laws in Georgia. Lynchings were routine in Georgia, occurring at a rate of at least once a month. Two years prior, in 1906, African-Americans were hung from lamp posts during the “Atlanta Race Riot,” which was a riot consisting of white people terrorizing and brutalizing black people. The statue refers to those listed on the monument as a "covenant keeping race" and thus, the statue serves as a shrine to white supremacists like those we saw in Charlottesville. If the City of Decatur and DeKalb County truly value diversity, then both entities will listen to its citizens and fight vigorously for the removal of this monument. Please sign below so our representatives can see all our signatures. Our community, our city, does not want this tribute to slavery and Jim Crow encroaching on our space. We recognize that this will not be an easy process. After seeing our signatures, we hope that our representatives will get to work on repealing and/or amending O.C.G.A 50-3-1 (b)(2) which prohibits the removal of such monuments. Once that process is complete, cities across the state of Georgia can determine for themselves whether these confederate memorials are appropriate for their public spaces. By signing this petition, you are saying there is no space for hate, racism, white supremacy, and bigotry in the City of Decatur. ** Please feel free to sign even if you do not live in Decatur or DeKalb County because this action requires a change in Georgia law so we want all representatives in the State House and Senate to hear our voices ***

Nonhuman animals are violently abused and slaughtered in the dairy and egg industries. Bees are killed in great numbers and are deprived of their food source (honey). Any individual exploited for their milk, eggs, or honey deserves moral consideration just as we provide for other human and nonhuman animals. At City O' City, every menu item, except for two, are animal-friendly or can be made animal-friendly. We are asking the restaurant to take the next step beyond a vegetarian menu and cut their ties with animal abusing companies in order to become the next eatery that provides exclusively nonviolent foods in Denver.

Extremists have no place guiding and determining the strategies and policies of the USA. When they do, they embolden people like Ku Kluxer David Duke who said in Charlottesville, Virginia, before Saturday’s violence, “We are determined to take our country back. We are going to fulfill the promises of Donald Trump. That’s what we believed in, that’s why we voted for Donald Trump." Sebastian Gorka, the bogus security advisor told Breitbart News Daily that white supremacists are not a problem. Stephen Miller inferred the Statue of Liberty is not a symbol of freedom and welcome. Steve Bannon promotes destructive theories of white nationalism and anti-stability of democratic government.

The recent acts of violence in Charlottesville, VA are only an example of how the White Supremacists have caused either direct harm, or threat of harm and in addition seriously disrupted the lives of innocent civilians and their places of residence or business. It is time for Congress to take swift and decisive action to prevent these groups from bringing further violence or disruption to this country. There should be an immediate Investigation into these groups and their actions in such places as Charlottesville. If necessary, those directly- or indirectly responsible for such violence should be indicted. Furthermore; state, local, and Federal locations should be directed to prevent the presence of such groups if it is shown there is a clear threat to the safety of innocent civiliians or that any disruption to their homes- or businesses or any other location.

This is not about stopping free speech. This is about protecting the citizenry from this murderous, violent, and unlawful group. Update: Sun pm - Thus far, there is no permit. Marty Walsh has made a statement that said that thus far the group that requested the permit- a different name from the Charlottesville group - has not completed the process for a permit.

What happened yesterday in Charlottesville VA was an act of terrorism, from the most dangerous group at work in the US today: the Alt-right. These terrorists must be held accountable.

Terrorism is defined as the use of violence or intimidation in pursuit of political aims. The events of August 12 in Charlottesville, VA, which left 3 people dead and dozens injured, were the result of terrorism and not "freedom of speech." Hundreds of armed white supremacists with assault rifles marching in a small American town is intimidation. The intentional killing of a pedestrian with a vehicle is murder. The chant of "blood and soil" is a call to genocide. None of the acts of August 12 constitute protected speech, but instead, terrorism. As an American citizen, a resident of Charlottesville, and VA5 constituent, I demand that Rep. Garrett introduce legislation in Congress placing all hate groups tracked by the SPLC in the FBI's terrorist watch list, and that Federal resources be devoted to monitor, prevent, and counter any and all terrorist activities arising from those groups. And I invite all my fellow Americans to demand their senators and representatives join in support of this legislation.

To enactment legislation that will end gerrymandering, and guarantee independent, fair, nonpartisan redistricting reform, immediately following the 2020 census.

As Virginians who want a pro-business, pro-equality future for Virginia, we need leaders who will move our Commonwealth forward.

Tell the government you will not stand for discrimination of our transgender military personnel.

Hank Williams, Jr used his previous platform as the show opener for Monday Night Football as a spring board for appearing all over the country denouncing human rights and racial equality issues. He was particularly insulting to President Obama, likening him to Hitler. It has been announced that ESPN is planning to bring him back to the program although he has never retreated from his bigoted commentary. We should demand that for the good of our country, as it tries to heal, he should not be returned to the public airways.

During his address to the 2017 National Scouting Jamboree, Donald Trump delivered a highly politicized and divisive speech that is against the patriotic spirit of the Boy Scouts of America. I am a proud Eagle Scout who was an active Scout for twelve years, from Tiger Scouting through Cub Scouting and into Boy Scouting. As someone with different political values than the current president, I found his remarks at the Jamboree to be alienating and the use of the Boy Scouts as a prop by him to be dispiriting.