CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) - The city of Charlottesville says plans to remove a statue to Confederate hero Robert E. Lee do not violate state law.
In a motion filed Monday, the city says that a state law protecting memorials to war veterans became applicable in 1997 and doesn’t apply to the Lee statue, which was erected in 1924.
A group called the Monument Fund filed a lawsuit in March in an attempt to stop the city from removing the statue. The fund argues that removing the statue would violate state law.
A hearing in the case is scheduled for Aug. 30.
The filing comes after a weekend in which thousands descended upon Charlottesville to protest a rally of the Ku Klux Klan. The Klan is opposed to the removal of the Lee statue.
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