Police charge 3 more for toppling Confederate statue in North Carolina

DURHAM, N.C. -- Three more people have been charged with toppling a Confederate statue in North Carolina earlier this month.

Durham County jail records show that Jessica Nicole Jude, Joseph Baldoni Karlik and Qasima Rohan Elise Wideman were arrested Monday and later released. Jail records show each faces charges related to rioting and property damage.

An attorney representing the three, Scott Holmes, declined to comment on their arrests.

Eight others were already arrested previously on similar charges of tearing down the Confederate statue in front of a government building in Durham. The bronze soldier was pulled down Aug. 14 by protesters who climbed a ladder and attached a rope.

The Confederate statue was dedicated to Durham in 1942. "The Confederate States of America" is engraved on the front of the monument.

The toppling came in the aftermath of a white nationalist rally in Virginia that turned deadly. A white nationalist group, Unite the Right, had organized the Aug. 12 rally to protest the decision to remove Confederate statues from a Charlottesville park. A rally attendee allegedly plowed his car into counter-protesters, killing Heather Heyer.

Since then, cities and states across the country have moved forward with efforts to remove Confederate statues.