Group files lawsuit against Lake County over Confederate statue

Lawsuit filed to stop transfer of Confederate statue

The transfer of a Confederate statue to the Lake County Historical Museum has been delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic just as a group has filed a lawsuit to stop the arrival of the monument to Gen. Kirby Smith.

LAKE COUNTY, Fla. - The arrival of the controversial confederate statue coming to Lake County has been delayed because of COVID-19, this as a group files a lawsuit against the county to try to keep it from coming.

“This is not a step that we sought to take, but this is a step we have to take,” Lake County Voices of Reason member Mae Hazelton said.

A group called Lake County Voices of Reason filed a lawsuit against Lake County to stop the arrival of a statue of Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith.

Lake County leaders said the statue was supposed to be brought to the Lake County Historical Museum this summer, but has been delayed because of the coronavirus.

The lawsuit alleges the county violated the state’s Sunshine Law by having discussions about the statue behind closed doors before county commissioners voted in favor of it last July.

“People have a right to know what you bring into the county,” Hazelton said. “The county gives that museum $18,000 a year. That’s my taxpayer dollars. I have a right to know.

Lake county’s spokesperson said county leaders cannot comment on the lawsuit at this time, because they have not received it yet.

Lake County Voices of Reason members hope this step will stop the statue from coming.

“We simply cannot understand why the statue is coming here,” Hazelton said. “So, there is something called process and the process was flawed from the very beginning.”

FOX 35 did reach out to the man who runs the museum. We have not heard back from him yet.