Woman livestreams vandalism of UNC's Silent Sam Confederate monument with her own blood

A protester smeared a mixture of her own blood and red ink across the Silent Sam Confederate monument at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Maya Little, who livestreamed the vandalism on Facebook, was arrested and charged with defacing, striking, marking or injuring a public statue, The News & Observer reported.

Since September, the UNC student has participated as an organizer of the Silent Sam sit-ins aimed at removing the historic monument.

Little is reportedly a second-year doctoral student in the school's history department.

What's the story?

On Monday, Little cut her hand and smeared her blood and red ink all over the monument.

"Silent Sam is violence; Silent Sam is the genocide of black people; Silent Sam is antithetical to our right to exist," Little wrote in an email to the media. "You should see him the way that we do, at the forefront of our campus covered in our blood."

Little targeted UNC Chancellor Carol Folt in her email for not getting rid of the monument that has faced controversy for decades, according to the Observer.

"What do you see when you look at this statue, chancellor?" Little asked. "We see the mutilation of black bodies, the degradation of black people, the celebration of an army that fought for our ancestors' enslavement. I see Julian Carr whipping a black woman. I see your willingness to traumatize, dehumanize and endanger every black person on this campus."

What does the chancellor say?

According to the Observer, Folt is not against removing the statue.

However, a 2015 law protects historical monuments from being removed or relocated, according to the school's lawyers.

Why did Little smear her blood and red ink on the statue?

In an interview with the Daily Tar Heel, Little said she added context to the statue.

"I smeared my blood and red ink on the statue because the statue was lacking proper historical context. This statue, Silent Sam, was built on white supremacy. It was built by white supremacists. It was built by people who believed that Black people were inferior and wanted to intimidate them," Little told the Daily Tar Heel. "So these statues were built on Black blood. These statues symbolize the violence toward Black people. Without that blood on the statue, it’s incomplete, in my opinion. It’s not properly contextualized."

What else?

While Little painted Silent Sam, others could be heard reading parts of the statue's dedication speech by Julian Carr in 1913.

"This noble gift of the United Daughters of the Confederacy touches deeply and tenderly the heart of every man who has the privilege of claiming the University of North Carolina as its alma mater," a protester read. The Confederate soldiers "saved the very life of the Anglo Saxon race in the South."

Shortly, before UNC police arrested and escorted Little away, she spit on the monument.

"No cops, no klan! Get rid of Silent Sam!" protestors chanted loudly as Little was escorted away by UNC police.

Is Little still in jail?

Little was released from jail after she promised to appear in court.