MADISON, Wis. — A crowd outside the Wisconsin State Capitol tore down two statues, one of Wisconsin’s motto “Forward” and the other of anti-slavery activist Hans Christian Heg from the Civil War. The 100-year-old Heg statue, at the King Street approach to the Capitol, was decapitated, dragged to nearby Lake Mendota and thrown in the lake. The attack on the statues followed a day of unrest over the arrest of a Black man with a bullhorn at a restaurant. Why Heg was the crowd’s target was unclear. Heg was a Norwegian-born journalist who led the 15th Norwegian Volunteer Regiment. As a Union officer he fought in several battles. He was shot in the abdomen and bled to death at the horrific Battle of Chicamauga in Georgia in 1863.
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Details: Hans Christian Heg statue
Details: The statue “Forward”