Virginia to remove 12-ton Robert E. Lee statue in state capital this week

A giant statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Virginia, will be removed this week.

More than a year after Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam ordered the removal of a giant statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in the state's capital, the monument will be coming down this week, state officials announced Monday. The statue, erected in Richmond in 1890, will be removed from Monument Avenue this Wednesday, nearly a week after the Supreme Court of Virginia cleared the way for the state-owned monument to come down following several legal battles. "Virginia's largest monument to the Confederate insurrection will come down this week," Northam said in a statement. "This is an important step in showing who we are and what we value as a Commonwealth." Northam ordered the removal of the statue in June 2020, amid nationwide protests against symbols of racism and oppression that erupted following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis while in police custody.