Richmond takes down another Confederate monument as remainder face imminent removal

The city of Richmond, Virginia, plans to take down the rest of its Confederate monuments by the end of the week, the mayor’s office said Tuesday as another statue came down.

Mayor Levar Stoney ordered the removal last week of the city’s 11 monuments, and two had already been taken down when his office said the rest would be dismantled within days.

The city removed a third monument, a statue of Confederate Gen. J.E.B. Stuart, minutes after the mayor’s office told The Washington Times it planned to take down the rest this week.

Mr. Stoney, a Democrat, ordered the monuments taken down on July 1 after a new state law took effect giving localities the authority to decide what to do with their monuments.

Statues of Confederate Army Gen. Stonewall Jackson and Confederate Naval Commander Matthew Fontaine Maury were subsequently removed from their pedestals last week and taken to an undisclosed location.

The city’s Confederate monuments will be placed in storage pending a future decision on what to do with them, Mr. Stoney said.

WBBT, Richmond NBC’s affiliate, first reported Monday evening that the mayor’s office plans to have the rest of the city’s Confederate monuments removed by the end of the week. Mr. Stoney’s office confirmed that plan when contacted by The Washington Times early Tuesday.

The mayor’s office also told The Times the city was responsible for the work crew attempting to remove the massive statue of Stuart from its pedestal Tuesday morning. It came down shortly afterward at around 10:45 a.m. local time.