MOVING ON

Infamous Robert E. Lee Statue in Richmond Will Be Torn Down, Governor Says

The statue will be removed from its massive pedestal in Richmond’s Monument Avenue and put into storage.

One of the nations’s most notorious monuments to the Confederacy—a statue of General Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Virginia—is set to be pulled down in a remarkable victory for civil rights activists. Gov. Ralph Northam on Thursday announced plans to remove the statue from its massive pedestal in Richmond’s Monument Avenue and put it into storage, saying it will be taken down “as soon as possible.” The statue was covered in graffiti over the weekend by people protesting the death of George Floyd in police custody. Mayor Levar Stoney of Richmond said Wednesday that he would propose an ordinance to remove all four Confederate monuments that the city controls along Monument Avenue. “Richmond is no longer the capital of the Confederacy—it is filled with diversity and love for all—and we need to demonstrate that,” Stoney reportedly said in a statement. Gen. Lee was a prominent Confederate general in the Civil War.