Crews using a crane have hoisted an enormous statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee off the giant pedestal where it has towered over Virginia’s capital city for more than a century.
The piece, one of America’s largest monuments to the Confederacy, was lifted away to boisterous cheers from a crowd of hundreds. Some chanted “whose streets? Our streets!” and “Hey hey hey, goodbye.”
The statue was lowered to the ground where it was expected to be cut into pieces so that it can be brought to a secure location, where it will be stored until its final disposition is determined.
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A work crew in Virginia has begun removing one of the nation's largest remaining monuments to the Confederacy.
Workers have put straps on the towering statute of Robert E. Lee so that it can be lifted off its pedestal in Richmond, Virginia, 131 years after it was erected in the former capital of the Confederacy.
Many consider the equestrian statue an offensive tribute to the South’s slave-holding past.
Public officials in Virginia resisted its removal until the death of George Floyd under a police officer's knee. Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam announced plans to take it down amid nationwide protests against police brutality and racism.
