Maryland removes statue of pro-slavery chief justice

Authorities from the US state of Maryland have removed a statue of a 19th century chief justice who wrote the pro-slavery Dred Scott decision

It is the latest example of action across the United States over memorials that have sparked racially charged protests.

Meanwhile, the mother of a woman killed on Saturday when a car ploughed into counter-protesters at a white nationalist rally in the Virginia city of Charlottesville said that after hearing Donald Trump's latest comments, she did not want to talk to the president.

In what has become the biggest domestic crisis of his presidency, Trump has been strongly criticised, including by many fellow Republicans, for blaming the Charlottesville violence on not just the white nationalist rally organisers, but also the anti-racism activists who opposed them.

Crews in Maryland's state capital, Annapolis, hitched straps overnight to the 145-year-old bronze statue of Roger Taney and then removed it from its base outside State House using a crane, according to media reports and social media posts.

Unable to hide from history

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, a Republican, called earlier this week for the monument to be taken down immediately, saying it was “the right thing to do”.

Taney's infamous 1857 decision reaffirmed slavery and said black people could not be US citizens.

Opponents of monuments to the Confederate states, which fought in the US Civil War for the preservation of slavery, view them as a festering symbol of racism, while supporters say they honour American history.

Some of the monuments have become rallying points for white nationalists.

Efforts to remove many such statues around the country have been stepped up since the violent white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, which was called to protest plans to remove a Confederate monument.

"While we cannot hide from our history – nor should we – the time has come to make clear the difference between properly acknowledging our past and glorifying the darkest chapters of our history," Hogan said in his statement on Wednesday.