RICHMOND, Va. -- Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam is expected to announce plans Thursday for the removal of an iconic statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from Richmond’s prominent Monument Avenue.
A senior administration official told The Associated Press that the governor will direct the statue to be moved off its massive pedestal and put into storage while his administration seeks input on a new location.
The move comes amid turmoil across the nation and around the world over the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a Minneapolis officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for several minutes, even after he stopped moving.
As a result, relics of the Old South have been removed from public display in at least three states amid continuing protests over Floyd's killing.
In Alabama, crews working overnight took down a huge stone monument in a park in downtown Birmingham.
A woman whose sister died in a 1963 church bombing that killed four black girls nearby was among those who came out Tuesday to see what had happened.
Sarah Collins Rudolph says she's glad the monument is gone. She considered it to be a symbol of hate.
