LAFAYETTE, La. — A hearing set for Monday on the removal of a controversial statue of Confederate Gen. Alfred Mouton from Downtown Lafayette was delayed due to the Lafayette Parish Courthouse being closed after Hurricane Delta hit Acadiana.
A march by Move the Mindset, which supports the removal of the statue from its current position in Downtown Lafayette, was still held Monday morning despite the closure of the courthouse.
On Sunday, the15th Judicial District Court announced that court operations and clerk of court offices in Acadia, Lafayette and Vermilion Parishes would be closed for court business on Monday and would resume on Tuesday.
The court hearing centers on a 1980 injunction that kept Lafayette officials from considering the removal of a controversial statue of Mouton in 2016.
The city, the local chapter of the Daughters of the Confederacy, and a local group called Move the Mindset were to appear in court to argue the city's motion to dissolve a 40-year-old judgment and exclude the Daughters of the Confederacy from being involved in the decision altogether.
The statue, which was erected in the 1920s by the local chapter of the Daughters of the Confederacy, honors Alfred Mouton, a slave owner and general in the Confederate army.
In July, Lafayette Mayor-President Josh Guillory announced that he wants to move the statue to protect it from damage, and because it is an "impediment to mutual respect, redemption and reconciliation." In his statement, Guillory said he would ask the Lafayette City Council for a resolution of support.
The Lafayette City Council also voted unanimously to support the move in July.
The hearing hadpreviously been reset back in August.
A new court date for the hearing has not yet been set.
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