Protester involved in pulling down abolitionist’s statue in Wisconsin gets 6 months in jail

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A man who drove the car that helped pull down the statue of a Civil War hero and abolitionist outside of the Wisconsin state Capitol during a night of protests in 2020 has been sentenced to six months in jail. The statue of Hans Christian Heg was toppled and beheaded during a protest in downtown Madison in June 2020 against police brutality. Protests began a month earlier over the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police and flared up again that June after Madison police arrested a Black activist. The Wisconsin State Journal reported Friday that Kelsey D. Nelson was sentenced for his role in damaging the Heg statue and for looting a nearby jewelry store about a month earlier.