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Robert E Lee statue: Virginia governor announces removal of monument
Jun 4, 2020
Virginia's Governor Ralph Northam has announced that a statue of Confederate General Robert E Lee will be removed from the state capital.
The controversial statue will be put into storage " as soon as possible", the governor said.
The monument has been vandalised during recent protests over the killing of African American George Floyd.
Memorials to the Confederacy, which fought to keep black people as slaves, have long stirred controversy.
At a news conference, a round of applause erupted when Governor Northam said the 12-ton statue would be removed.
"In Virginia, we no longer preach a false version of history," the governor said.
"In 2020, we can no longer honour a system that was based on enslaving people. That statue has been there a long time. But it was wrong then, and it's wrong now. So we're taking it down."
Referencing Gen Lee's own words, Governor Northam said it was not "wise not to keep open the sores of war".
The Robert E Lee statue is the largest of five Confederate statues along Richmond's Monument Avenue. They have been rallying points during protests in Virginia in recent days, and have been tagged with graffiti, including messages that say "end police brutality" and "stop white supremacy".
"They are extremely heavy and would crush anyone standing too close. Please be aware of the danger. Stand down!" the Richmond Police Department tweeted on Monday .
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