Virginia Set To Remove Gen. Robert E. Lee Statue In Richmond

RICHMOND, VA — Virginia plans to take down a 12-ton statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee in Richmond on Wednesday after the Virginia Supreme Court issued a decision last week granting the state permission to remove the Confederate statue

Crews will begin preparing for the removal of the statue Tuesday evening by installing protective fencing along Monument Avenue and Allen Street, where the statue is located. All vehicles and pedestrians must be cleared from the area by 6 p.m. Tuesday.

After the statue's removal on Wednesday, crews will spend Thursday removing plaques from the base of the monument and will replace a time capsule that is believed to be located at the site.

Many other Confederate symbols across the South have been removed without public announcements beforehand to avoid crowds or protests. But Gov. Ralph Northam’s office plans to livestream the event on social media.

“Virginia’s largest monument to the Confederate insurrection will come down this week,” Northam said in a news release Monday. “This is an important step in showing who we are and what we value as a commonwealth.”

The statue will be placed in storage at a state-owned facility until the state decides what to do with it.

The statue was installed on Monument Avenue in 1890 to honor Robert E. Lee and the Confederacy. At the time, white residents celebrated the statue. But many Black residents have long seen it as a monument glorifying slavery.

The Robert E. Lee statue is the only one owned by the state on Monument Avenue. The five other Confederate statues on Monument Avenue have been removed by the city of Richmond.

SEE ALSO: Northam Orders Removal Of Gen. Robert E. Lee Statue In Richmond

The 40-foot-high granite pedestal on which the Robert E. Lee statue stands will remain in place. The city of Richmond and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts were chosen by the state to develop ideas on what to do with the pedestal and the state-owned land surrounding the statue.

In June 2020, Northam announced plans to remove the Robert E. Lee statue. At the time, he directed the Department of General Services to remove the statue as soon as possible.

But two lawsuits were quickly filed challenging Northam's plan to remove the bronze equestrian statue of Lee. The Supreme Court of Virginia heard oral argument in the cases in June on the 131-year-old statue, which is now widely seen as a symbol of white supremacy and Black oppression.

On Sept. 2, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled that the state of Virginia has the authority to remove the Robert E. Lee statue.

In July, the city of Charlottesville removed the statues of Confederate Gens. Robert E. Lee and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson from their pedestals in city parks. The city announced its plans to remove the statues leading up to the day when they were hauled away. The statues were lifted by cranes and carted off to storage. The city used fencing and police to keep the public and any protesters away from the monument sites during their removal.

In Loudoun County, a Confederate statue on the grounds of the Loudoun County courthouse in downtown Leesburg was removed in the early hours of July 21, 2020, without any notice to avoid potential protests against its removal. Only a portion of the concrete base remains where the Confederate statue, known as the "Silent Sentinel," stood for more than 112 years.

SEE ALSO: Confederate Statue Removed Overnight At Loudoun Courthouse

Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney said Virginia is taking an important step this week "to embrace the righteous cause and put the 'Lost Cause' behind us."

"Richmond is no longer the capital of the Confederacy," Stoney said in a statement Monday. "We are a diverse, open, and welcoming city, and our symbols need to reflect his reality."

Drones will be banned over and near the Robert E. Lee monument site during the removal of the statue, according to a Federal Aviation Administration order. The ban, which covers a 2-nautical-mile radius around the statue, took effect at one minute past midnight Tuesday morning and is to remain in place until 11:59 p.m. Thursday.

Limited viewing opportunities will be available on a first-come, first-served basis near the site of the Robert E. Lee statue. A designated public viewing section will be located on Monument Avenue to the east of the monument site. Beginning at 8 a.m. Wednesday and 8 a.m. Thursday, entry to the public viewing area will be on Monument Avenue at Stuart.

The public can view the statue's removal through a livestream on the governor's Facebook page and his Twitter site.

Street closures around the monument will go into effect at 6 p.m. on Tuesday and will remain in place until the site is safe to reopen. The street closures will include Monument Avenue between North Meadow and Lombardy streets, North Allen Avenue between Park Avenue and West Broad Street, and West Grace Street between North Meadow and Lombardy streets.

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