CHAPEL HILL, N.C. _ As a large police presence watched Thursday night, anti-Silent Sam protesters held a "dance party" to celebrate the fallen Confederate statue while members of a Southern heritage group conducted a vigil inside a fenced-off area at the University of North Carolina.
About 40 to 50 members of the group ACTBAC, or Alamance County Taking Back Alamance County, unfurled a large Confederate flag within the perimeter. They carried signs that said, "Save our monuments, preserve our history."
Roughly twice as many people gathered in opposition of the statue. They yelled "(Expletive) your flag!" "Go home!" and "Pigs in a pen!"
The Chapel Hill campus had a fortress look all afternoon as the university prepared for a possible confrontation between the two groups with opposite opinions on Silent Sam.
The monument was toppled by protesters Aug. 20, and on Saturday opposing groups clashed during demonstrations at the site. By Thursday evening, 14 people had been charged in the two previous protests.
On Wednesday, university officials had suggested to students that they stay away from the evening activities _ a twilight service to honor the fallen monument by ACTBAC and the dance party and speakout by those opposed to the statue.
Inside the Graham Memorial building near the protest, additional police in riot gear could be seen.
"We know from past experience that when groups with opposing views come together in a highly charged environment, there is a real possibility for demonstrations to escalate to violence," said a letter, from Chancellor Carol Folt and Provost Robert Blouin, that was sent to the university community.
The Alamance County group discouraged trouble among its members, according to a post on its Facebook page. "We hope and pray for a peaceful and honorable service tomorrow," the post said. "That being said, there will be a large amount of devilish and ungodly opposition."
The counterprotesters, in promoting their event, used the slogan "dance on his grave!" adding, "White supremacists are coming to UNC on Thursday night for a 'Twilight Vigil' for Silent Sam. Come dance, speak out, shut them down and show them that hate is not welcome on our campus."
Maya Little, a UNC graduate student who faces criminal and honor court charges for throwing red ink and blood on Silent Sam in April, was at McCorkle Place on Thursday night. She declined to be interviewed, saying, "I'm just here to have fun."
As the groups prepared to gather, the statue's future is unknown.
Earlier this week, the UNC Board of Trustees and the UNC system's Board of Governors met separately, mostly behind closed doors, to discuss the situation. The Board of Governors directed Folt and the campus trustees to come up with a "lawful and lasting" plan by Nov. 15 for the Confederate monument, which is now being kept in an undisclosed location.
Folt said all options would be considered, including the possibility that the statue could be reinstalled in its former location.
At least one member of the UNC Board of Governors, Thom Goolsby, has been adamant that the statue has to be put back up on its pedestal in 90 days in accordance with a 2015 state law on historic "objects of remembrance." But legal scholars have disagreed with that interpretation.
