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Statue of pro-slavery Supreme Court chief justice removed in Maryland

A statue of pro-slavery Supreme Court chief justice was removed in Maryland overnight

Maryland officials removed a 145-year-old statue from the State House grounds early Friday morning, as onlookers cheered.

The statue depicted former Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney, who wrote the 1857 Dred Scott decision that upheld slavery.

Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, said this week that removing the statue was “the right thing to do.”

Authorities and protesters have removed Confederate monuments in several cities since Saturday, when 32-year-old Heather Heyer was killed during a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Organizers said the rally was planned to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.