August 27, 2003
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — An irate protester repeatedly screamed "Put it back!" as a Ten Commandments monument was wheeled away Wednesday from the rotunda of the Alabama Judicial Building.
Another man tried to calm the protester, who was angrily shouting "God haters" at the people who wanted the controversial monument removed.
"Get your hands off our God, God haters!" the red-faced man yelled.
Photo: A moving crew measures the dimensions and features of the Ten Commandments monument in the Alabama Judicial Building in Montgomery, Ala., Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2003. A U.S. District Judge has ordered the monument moved from public view in the building. Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore was suspended by the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission for failing to comply with the order. (AP Photo/Bill Haber)
The 5,300-pound granite marker was hauled on a dolly by a Georgia moving company from the public view area to another, undisclosed place in the courthouse complex.
Meanwhile, a Wednesday afternoon hearing to consider a lawsuit to keep the monument in the building was cancelled.
The lawsuit, filed Monday in federal court in Mobile on behalf of a Christian radio talk show host and a pastor, says forced removal of the monument would violate the constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion.
The director of the Christian Defense Coalition, Patrick Mahoney, said the monument would not be covered, and that he would be allowed inside to see it once it's moved. Mahoney said he was informed of the plans by building manager Graham George.
Mahoney didn't know whether the monument's new location would be accessible to the public, but protesters weren't allowed to stop the removal of the monument.
Protest organizers asked the crowd outside not to rush the building or do anything else except pray. The people seemed to be listening, with dozens kneeling and bowing in prayer in front of the judicial building and on the steps in the minutes leading up to the moving process.
Two state police officers and two moving company officials on Wednesday morning spent time studying and measuring the monument to determine how best to move it. The process took about an hour.
A federal judge in Montgomery ruled last year that the monument, which Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore installed two years ago, violates the constitution's ban on government promotion of religion and ordered its removal by Aug. 20. The U.S. Supreme Court last week declined to hear Moore's appeal.
But Moore refused to comply. Eight associate justices voted Aug. 21 to remove the monument, and Moore was suspended the next day.
Attorney General Bill Pryor, defending the associate justices, filed a motion Tuesday afternoon to dismiss the latest lawsuit, saying the Mobile court lacks jurisdiction and the complaint lacks merit.
About 150 monument supporters marched on Pryor's office Tuesday, demanding he resign for supporting the associate justices' decision. Seven representatives were allowed inside to meet with Pryor's chief deputy for about 20 minutes. The rest remained outside, chanting, "Resign now! Resign now!"
Gatherings of pro-monument demonstrators outside the judicial building have grown each day in the past week to at times number in the hundreds.
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