Several hundred protesters showed up in front of the Manatee County courthouse Monday afternoon. 

Various groups showed up to protest a Confederate monument outside the courthouse. Manatee County commissioners have recently voted that the monument will stay in place. 

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Counter-protesters showed up with their signs and flags and chanted that the monument should stay and that it’s a part of history.

One group chanted, “Hey, ho, that monument has got to go.”

While the other side screamed out, “Leave it here! Leave it here!”

Organizers said the event would be peaceful. There was no violence but one protester did set a flag on fire that belonged to the self-described anti-fascist group Antifa. That man was later arrested for waving a large American flag in a crowd of people and hitting their signs. 

A total of three arrests were made. 

The monument has sat  in front of the Manatee County Historic Courthouse since 1924. 

After an emergency meeting on Friday, Manatee Commissioners voted 6-1 to cover up the monument, which has a Confederate flag on one side and the names of Jefferson Davis, Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee etched on the other sides. 

No violence erupted at the protest that lasted about two and a half hours.

Commissioners said on Friday that they will revisit the issue on whether to keep or remove the statue.