Charlottesville removes Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson statues

Both were removed from Market Street Park and Court Square on Saturday

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.UPDATE

On Saturday, the City of Charlottesville officially removed both the Confederate statues of General Robert E. Lee in Market Street Park and Stonewall Jackson in Court Square.

This comes as communities rallied for years for the removal of the Lee statue and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson in Court Square since 2017.


ORIGINAL STORY

A new wave of no parking signs and fencing is up around Charlottesville’s two Confederate statues as the city readies to relocate them.

Signs could be seen around Court Square and Market Street Park early Friday, July 9, banning public parking all day Saturday, according to NBC29.

The city announced around 12:35 p.m. that a “removal project” for the statues of Generals Robert E. Lee and “Stonewall” Jackson will get underway sometime Saturday. Their stone bases will be left in place and will be removed at a later date.

According to the city, both statues will be stored in a secure location on city property until City Council makes a final decision on disposition.

Charlottesville had briefly blocked off some parking spaces near the Jackson statue yesterday so crews could do some tree trimming.

Now, fencing is blocking people from getting near that statue, as well as the one of Lee.

City Council recently approved setting aside $1 million for the relocation and or covering of these two statues, as well as the statue of Lewis & Clark and Sacajawea.

More information from Charlottesville can be found here.

This is a developing story.


About the Author

McKinley Strother joined the WSLS 10 News team in June 2020. He anchors 10 News at 6 and 11 on Saturdays and Sundays and you'll also catch him reporting during the week.

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