AUSTIN, Texas -- The Sons of Confederate Veterans is suing the University of Texas for removing four Confederate statues from the main area of campus in Austin.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. Western District Court on Wednesday, three days after the statues were taken down after a late-night order from University President Greg Fenves.
Three of the statues are of Confederate Postmaster John Reagan, and Confederate Gens. Robert E. Lee and Albert Sidney Johnston. The fourth is of former Gov. James Stephen Hogg, who was the son of a Confederate veteran.
Fenves said that while the university aims to preserve and study history, it must also acknowledge when history runs counter to the university's core values.
"Erected during the period of Jim Crow laws and segregation, the statues represent the subjugation of African-Americans. That remains true today for white supremacists who use them to symbolize hatred and bigotry," Fenves said.
The removals followed a deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va.
The school said the three statues of Confederate military and political leaders will be moved to the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History. Hogg's statue may be reinstalled at a different campus location, Fenves said.
The statues were paid for by former University of Texas regent and Confederate veteran George Washington Littlefield in 1920. The lawsuit argues the school broke its agreement with Littlefield by removing the statues. One of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit is Steven Littlefield, a relative of George Littlefield. The other plaintiff is David McMahon, commander of the Texas Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, which request a temporary injunction.
George Littlefield donated money and land to the school with the request that the university promote the "Southern perspective of American history."
"The university agreed to communicate political speech in perpetuity. Now, however, Pres. Fenves has breached the university's promise to communicate minority political speech," the lawsuit said.
Patti Ohlendorf, the school's chief lawyer, told the Austin American-Statesman that Fenves consulted with a number of people before making what he considered the best decision -- namely, to remove the statues from the South Mall. The decision was legally sound, she said.
The attorney who filed the lawsuit, Kirk Lyons, filed a similar lawsuit in 2015 seeking to bar Fenves from removing the statues of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and of former President Woodrow Wilson from the South Mall.
A judge denied Lyons' request for a restraining order, and the university took down the statues days later. Lyons appealed to the Texas Supreme Court, where the case is pending.
Information for this article was contributed by staff members of The Associated Press and by Ryan Autullo and Ralph K.M. Haurwitz of the Austin-American Statesman.
A Section on 08/26/2017