RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Charlottesville says a Confederate monument that helped spark a violent white supremacist rally is set to come down Saturday.
The city said in a news release Friday afternoon that the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee seated on a horse as well as a nearby figure of Confederate Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson will both be removed.
The development comes more than five years after racial-justice activists began a renewed push to remove the figures.
As those efforts evolved, the Lee monument became a rallying point for white supremacists and other racist groups, culminating in the violent “Unite the Right” rally in 2017.
