ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — At least one person was arrested and a few others detained Saturday following street protests in St. Augustine, according to the St. Augustine Police Department.
Police said the arrest followed an altercation, though authorities are still piecing together what exactly happened.
The altercation happened as protesters and counter-protesters gathered in front of Flagler College on King Street. Both gatherings centered around Mark Bailey, a member of the Flagler Board of Trustees.
Protesters led by the Reverend Ron Rawls accuse Bailey of using his wealth and influence to "hinder social justice progress in St. Augustine by attempting to sway a government ruling on removing and relocating the Confederate monument," according to a Facebook post.
As a result, protesters called for Bailey's resignation from the Flagler Board of Trustees.
Bailey supporters staged a counter-protest, according to a Facebook post accusing Rawls of wanting to "destroy St. Augustine's history."
Facebook Live videos showed clashes between both protesters and counter-protesters. In a Facebook Live hosted by Tracey Eaton, a Flagler College professor, police can be seen breaking up a crowd and ordering everyone to disperse.
Back in July, Bailey wrote an open letter to local officials asking them to keep the 1879 Confederate veterans memorial in the central city plaza. In exchange, he offered to personally help pay for infrastructure repairs in historically Black West Augustine.
"I do not believe that the removal of the obelisk will lead to any changes that impact our African American community," Bailey said in the open letter. "My wife and I and many other individuals and businesses in this community give of their time, talent and treasure every day. The two of us serve on as many as 10 nonprofit boards at any one time and spend no less than a day per week focused on these organizational needs."
In the letter, Bailey compared the cost of removing the memorial to the cost of the city's sewer infrastructure project.
"I will offer to the Commission and City staff that we will personally, along with other community support, fund the difference in the final obelisk removal estimate and the cost of the sewer infrastructure project," Bailey said.
The full open letter can be read by clicking here.