A day after he issued a temporary restraining order barring the removal of the Confederate Memorial from Arlington National Cemetery because a petitioner affiliated with a Florida “heritage” group claimed the removal would disturb nearby remains–a claim that if found “to be untrue or exaggerated the Court may take appropriate sanctions,” the judge promised–U.S. District Judge Rossie Alston, a Trump appointee, lifted the TRO Tuesday after touring the deconstruction project, the Associated Press reports.
In his order, Alston said he saw “no desecration [of any graves] at all. The grass wasn’t even disturbed,” when he toured the section of the cemetery where the memorial, one of the largest structures on Arlington’s grounds, was to be disassembled. Regarding the desecration allegations made by a group called Defend Arlington, which is associated with Save Southern Heritage Florida, Alston said they “were, at best, ill-informed and, at worst, inaccurate.” He did not state if he would pursue any sanctions against the petitioner. The cemetery’s manager said work to take down the monstrosity would restart immediately.