Who Knew? A Confederate Memorial in Hastings

A 42 year-old White Plains man has been arrested and sent to jail after sending a "threatening, hate filled anti-Semitic" email to Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner on August 18, 2017.

According to Greenburgh Police, the email was allegedly prompted by an article in LoHud news in which Feiner questioned the appropriateness of a Confederate memorial in Mount Hope Cemetery in Hastings. The email was sent anonymously prompting an investigation from Greenburgh detectives and the Westchester County District Attorney's Office who identified the sender as Timothy Goetze, age 42 of 1 Broad Parkway in White Plains.

The memorial in question is a 60-foot tall obelisk monument to memorialize more than 40 Confederate veterans who came north after the war. Feiner said, the memorial "honors soldiers who believed in the supremacy of the white race..... and that residents "believe that the monument should be removed or the wording honoring the Confederate soldiers on the monument should be removed."

According to the cemetery's website, the monument was erected in 1897 at a cost of $5,000 to honor the confederate soldiers and their families who are buried there. Here is what it says:

Confederate Monument and Burial Ground Dedicated May 22, 1897

Following the end of the great Civil War, many Southern men who had once taken up arms against the Union moved north to seek their fortunes. As one Confederate Veteran is quoted as saying, "I wanted to go where the Yankees were millionaires and fight them with brains instead of bullets." While these men assimilated into Northern society, many becoming successful in both business and even politics, they remained proud of their Southern Confederate heritage. Groups such as the Southern Society and the United Confederate Veterans soon formed to soothe the longings for home and to provide relief for needy Southerners in the North."

In the 1890s, the New York Camp of the UCV purchased a 400 square foot plot in Mount Hope Cemetery in which to bury its members. The $5000 cost of the 60-foot obelisk that was to be the centerpiece of the plot was paid for by former blockade runner and 12th VA Cavalry Private, and later successful New York businessman, Charles "Broadway" Rouss."

Goetze was arrested and charged with one count of aggravated harassment as a hate crime, Class E felony. He was arraigned in Greenburgh Town Court and remanded to Westchester County Jail where he is held on $25,000 bond.

Commenting on the arrest, Greenburgh Police Chief Chris McNerney said, "While we respect everyone's right to free speech, this was clearly a case where that line was crossed. We want to send a message that such hate filled threats will be fully investigated and those responsible will be brought to justice."