Theft charges dismissed against man accused of stealing Confederate monument from Selma

Theft charges have been dismissed against a man who was accused of stealing a Confederate monument dedicated to Jefferson Davis in Old Live Oak Cemetery. 

According to the Guardian the man who was accused of the crime, Jason Warnick, was set to face trial in Alabama on Oct. 16 but the charges were dismissed before it could take place. 

The incident stems from 2021 when a group calling itself White Lies Matter claimed to have stolen the monument, which is a sculpture in the shape of a chair that was commissioned by the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) in 1893. 

The group threatened to vandalize it if the UDC did not carry out its demands of hanging a banner displaying a quote from Black Liberation Army activist in the 1970s. 

The monument was tracked to New Orleans before authorities arrested Warnick, who is a tattoo shop owner, for alleged ties to the theft and to the group who claimed responsibility. 

The monument has since been restored to its place in Old Live Oak Cemetery. 

Warnick made statements saying that he was innocent of the charges and that he had not been to Selma at the time of the theft. After the charges were dismissed he made a statement saying that the authorities had arrested the wrong man.