The Latest: UNC leader says Confederate marker posed threat

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — The Latest on the debate over what to do with a Confederate statue that stood at North Carolina's flagship university (all times local):

12:30 p.m.

The head of North Carolina's flagship public university says she swiftly and unilaterally ordered the removal of a toppled Confederate statue's base because it had become a focus for continuing threats she didn't identify.

Carol Folt said Tuesday that she acted to protect public safety by having workers haul the marble pedestal off a main quad after midnight.

The "Silent Sam" statue itself has been in storage since it was pulled down last August by protesters who consider it a racist symbol.