Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee statue removal underway in Charlottesville

Charlottesville, July 10

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Work is underway to take down a Confederate monument that helped spark a violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, nearly four years ago.

The removal of the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee follows years of contention, community anguish and litigation.

Workers were preparing to hoist away the statue early Saturday morning. Charlottesville Mayor Nikuyah Walker was giving a speech.

After a push to remove the statue bubbled up in 2016, the monument became a rallying cry for white supremacists and other racist groups, culminating in the violent “Unite the Right” rally in 2017.

The rally left peaceful counterprotester Heather Heyer dead and dozens of people injured.

The park where the Lee statue stands was quiet early Saturday, with protective fencing in place.

Only the statues, not their stone pedestals, will be removed Saturday.

They will be taken down and stored in a secure location until the City Council makes a final decision about what should be done with them. Under state law, the city was required to solicit parties interested in taking the statues during an offer period that ended Thursday. It received 10 responses to its solicitation.

A coalition of activists commended the city for moving quickly to take the statues down after the offer period ended. As long as the statues “remain standing in our downtown public spaces, they signal that our community tolerated white supremacy and the Lost Cause these generals fought for,” the coalition called Take ‘Em Down Cville said.

The most recent removal push focused on the Lee monument began in 2016, thanks in part to a petition started by a Black high school student, Zyahna Bryant.

A lawsuit was quickly filed, putting the city’s plans on hold, and white supremacists seized on the issue.

“This is a crucial first step in the right direction to tell a more historically accurate and complete story of this place and the people who call this place home.

The work did not start here and it will not end here,” Bryant, now a student at the University of Virginia, said in a statement. — AP