Florida rally: Hundreds seek removal of Confederate monument

BRADENTON, Fla. – Several hundred Black Lives Matter supporters have protested in one small Florida city, demanding the removal of a Confederate monument in front of a courthouse.

The protest began Monday evening in the Gulf Coast city of Bradenton. It also drew a smaller number of people who want the monument to stay.

City leaders placed plywood around the monument in recent days, after a similar debate in Charlottesville, Virginia, led to a violent neo-Nazi protest that left one dead.

Confederate monuments have come under heightened scrutiny in recent months. Critics have called such monuments symbols of white supremacy and racism. Supporters of such monuments say they are reminders of Southern heritage.