CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) - A crowd cheered Saturday as workers in Charlottesville removed a Confederate statue near the site of a violent white nationalist rally three years ago.
The removal of a bronze figure of a Confederate soldier known as “At Ready” is seen in Charlottesville as a milestone in eliminating divisive symbols of the Civil War.
The Washington Post reports that the process of removing the statue began Saturday morning as workers affixed straps to the 900-pound statute to prepare to remove it from its base.
Charlottesville removes Confederate statue near rally site
(CNN)The statue of a Confederate soldier, flanked by a cannon and ammunition, has stood at the county courthouse in Charlottesville, Virginia, since 1909, more than 40 years after the Civil War.
It was christened "At Ready," and the statue's installation during Jim Crow sent a signal to many that resounded for decades -- in a city that renewed its association with deadly racial violence in 2017.
Saturday, the statue is coming down.
The Albemarle County Commission is live streaming the removal on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
Charlottesville City Council Member Kristin Szakos said the statue is a symbol of injustice, affiliate WVIR reported last month when the county commission made its decision.
"Clear to every Black defendant who must pass them on the way into court: this space is reserved for the Confederate cause," she said. "You will find no justice here."
Three years ago in the idyllic University of Virginia hometown, a "Unite the Right" rally sparked violence that killed one woman, Heather Heyer, injured dozens of other people and helped to highlight reemerging white supremacy.
It prompted President Donald Trump to say there were "fine people" on both sides of the conflict, which began with a rally by white nationalists and other right-wing groups.
The city and others began grappling with monuments to racism and slavery. A Virginia judge ruled last year that the statues of Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson in Charlottesville are war monuments that the city cannot remove without permission from the state.
Across the country, though, some statues were brought down, and some buildings renamed.
Charlottesville, Virginia: County is removing Confederate statue - CNN
The removal of a bronze figure of a Confederate soldier known as “At Ready” is seen in Charlottesville as a milestone in eliminating divisive symbols of the Civil War.
The Washington Post reports that the process of removing the statue began Saturday morning as workers affixed straps to the 900-pound statute to prepare to remove it from its base.
Charlottesville removes Confederate statue near rally site
(CNN)The statue of a Confederate soldier, flanked by a cannon and ammunition, has stood at the county courthouse in Charlottesville, Virginia, since 1909, more than 40 years after the Civil War.
It was christened "At Ready," and the statue's installation during Jim Crow sent a signal to many that resounded for decades -- in a city that renewed its association with deadly racial violence in 2017.
Saturday, the statue is coming down.
The Albemarle County Commission is live streaming the removal on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
Charlottesville City Council Member Kristin Szakos said the statue is a symbol of injustice, affiliate WVIR reported last month when the county commission made its decision.
"Clear to every Black defendant who must pass them on the way into court: this space is reserved for the Confederate cause," she said. "You will find no justice here."
Three years ago in the idyllic University of Virginia hometown, a "Unite the Right" rally sparked violence that killed one woman, Heather Heyer, injured dozens of other people and helped to highlight reemerging white supremacy.
It prompted President Donald Trump to say there were "fine people" on both sides of the conflict, which began with a rally by white nationalists and other right-wing groups.
The city and others began grappling with monuments to racism and slavery. A Virginia judge ruled last year that the statues of Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson in Charlottesville are war monuments that the city cannot remove without permission from the state.
Across the country, though, some statues were brought down, and some buildings renamed.
Charlottesville, Virginia: County is removing Confederate statue - CNN
