Residents of Richmond, Virginia cheered as a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, the nation’s largest Confederate monument, was taken down.
NOW: Crowd chanting “hey hey hey, goodbye†as officials remove the Robert E. Lee Monument in Virginia —
the country’s largest Confederate statue pic.twitter.com/PFswiZCwXM— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) September 8, 2021
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The statue had been the center of controversy for some time.
Virginia Governor Ralph Northam first ordered it to be taken down in June 2020, as the nation brewed with calls for a racial reckoning following the murder of George Floyd at the hands of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.
However, the order was delayed after opponents mounted legal challenges to keep the monument in place. The Supreme Court eventually sided with the state of Virginia.
Alan is a writer, editor, and news junkie based in New York.
