Richmond Commission to Consider Removal of Confederate Monuments

The mayor of Richmond, Virginia, announced on Wednesday that a commission would look into whether to remove some Confederate monuments from the city, reversing course from just two days ago. “Effective immediately, the Monument Avenue Commission will include an examination of the removal and/or relocation of some or all of the confederate statues,” Mayor Levar Stoney said in a statement, adding that the violence in Charlottesville prompted him to change his mind away from simply “educat[ing] Virginians about the history behind these monuments.” During the Civil War, Richmond served as the capital city of the Confederacy.