UNC-Chapel Hill police charge 3 people in connection with the Silent Sam toppling

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (WTVD) -- The UNC-Chapel Hill Police Department has filed warrants indicating charges against three people related to their involvement in the Silent Sam toppling Monday evening.

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The three people named in the warrants are not affiliated with the university.

Each person faces charges of misdemeanor riot and misdemeanor defacing of a public monument.

On Friday, Thom Goolsby, a member of the UNC Board of Governors, wrote in a Twitter post that Silent Sam will be reinstalled, as required by state law, within the next 90 days.

"I think it's pretty hypocritical of UNC and our authorities to go after the people who took down Silent Sam because Silent Sam was illegal," student Lindsay Ayling told ABC11 on Friday. "It violated the civil rights act by creating a racially hostile learning environment."

Meanwhile, student Larry said he doesn't think this has done anything positive for race relations.

"I think this has only made the extremists of places like Charlottesville resent these people more," he said.

In the wake of the toppling, the university is preparing for another possible rally Saturday. There has been some discussion that it will be on campus, at McCorkle Place.

The university is urging the public not to attend.

Streets may be closed and traffic may be rerouted if there is a large crowd.