NEWS
BREAKING: Old Town Confederate Statue Removed
Vernon Miles Today at 8:50am



(Updated 10:40 a.m.) This morning (Tuesday) a construction crane at the intersection of Prince and Washington Streets took down the Appomattox statue honoring Confederate soldiers that has been the object of criticism and controversy for decades.

The statue had been the object of criticism from those who said it represented a celebration of the city’s legacy of racism and slavery. For years, a state law prohibited the moving or removal of monuments to veterans, which grouped in specifically monuments honoring the Confederacy, but in April Gov. Ralph Northam signed new legislation authorizing localities to remove statues honoring the Confederacy.

“Some said this day would never come,” City Councilman John Chapman, who also runs the Manumission Tour Company covering the city’s black history, said on Facebook. “The confederate statue Appomattox is starting to be taken down. We, our community made this happen. I got the receipts to show it.”

Mayor Justin Wilson said he had no idea what happens to the statue now, saying the United Daughters of Confederacy (UDC) — which owns the statue — were the ones who took it down rather than have the city remove it.

The move comes amid nationwide protests against racism and police brutality in the wake of Minneapolis man George Floyd’s death. The UDC building in Richmond was recently targeted in protests on Sunday (May 31) which also vandalized Confederate Statues across the former capital of the Confederacy.

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