In Louisville, Kentucky, activists are trying to take down a statue of John B. Castleman, a Confederate soldier who later served in the U.S. Army and contributed to the horse community.
Here’s the activists’ effort today:
Protesters are attempting to wrap the statue in a banner that reads “no room for racism” pic.twitter.com/RofxslirM2
— Darcy Costello (@dctello) August 19, 2017
It turns out that actor William Shatner partially funded the statue.
When someone told him about the activists on Twitter, he responded like this:
Sounds like some are only focusing on his time in the Conf army, not his time in the US army or his contributions to the horse world 🤷🏼♂️ https://t.co/nR6u5ChsAl
— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) August 19, 2017
And that’s when the attacks started!
then your an idiot …jesus christ maybe its time to make chris pine my favorite kirk now ….
— ItsTheXfactor (@ItsTheXfactor) August 19, 2017
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So @WilliamShatner is defending a statue of a confederate that he partially funded because the dude liked horses? Wow, okay.
— Low Frequency Catnip (@Hello_Droogie) August 19, 2017
But William Shatner didn’t care:
The statue is of him as a horseman; not as a confederate general or Brigadier General of the US Army. What part of that is confusing? https://t.co/COr6BUbCDX
— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) August 19, 2017
If they feel that removing a statue will make them feel better; do it. 🙄 It’s just a statue. That won’t erase him from Louisville history. https://t.co/e2KgyZU1AA
— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) August 19, 2017
Wikipedia has this to say about John B. Castleman:
“During the Civil War, Castleman recruited 41 men in his hometown of Lexington, Kentucky, who went to Knoxville, Tennessee, to form the Second Kentucky Cavalry company under John Hunt Morgan.
Castleman was promoted to major in 1864. He led guerrillas in the attempted burning of supply boats in St. Louis, Missouri and was arrested in October 1864 at Sullivan, Indiana. He was convicted of spying and sentenced to death, but his execution was stayed by Abraham Lincoln. Following the war, Castleman was exiled from the United States, and studied medicine in France. He was pardoned by Andrew Johnson and returned to Kentucky in 1866.
He revived the Louisville Legion, a militia unit, in 1878 and became adjutant general of Kentucky in 1883. The unit became the 1st Kentucky Volunteers in the Spanish–American War, and Castleman was commissioned a colonel in the U.S. Army. His unit participated in the invasion of Puerto Rico, and after the war he was promoted to brigadier general and served as military governor of the island.”
William Shatner was supposed to back down in the face of the online hate mob.
He didn’t back down!
Oh well… never played by the rules anyway. 🤷🏼♂️ https://t.co/Lm6ugCMHCD
— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) August 20, 2017
Good for him!
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