 On July 1, 2019, Appeals Court Justice Bill Whitehall sided with Return to Lee Park and issued an order indefinitely blocking the memorial's removal until the dispute is resolved.In late May of 2020, the killing of George Floyd prompted massive protests across the United States, and mobs of protesters committed widespread acts of vandalism in downtown Dallas.Protests in other cities focused on destroying or defacing Confederate monuments, and on June 11, 2020, the city filed an emergency motion with the Court of Appeals asking for immediate permission to remove the War Memorial, citing the possibility of serious injury to protesters if the monument were to be toppled during a planned rally at the site.