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Stonewall Jackson Removed From Richmond's Monument Avenue

Associated Press

   RICHMOND, VIRGINIA - Work crews wielding a giant crane, harnesses and
   power tools wrested an imposing statue of Gen. Stonewall Jackson from
   its concrete pedestal along Richmond, Virginia's famed Monument Avenue
   on Wednesday, just hours after the mayor ordered the removal of all
   Confederate statues from city land.

   Mayor Levar Stoney's decree came weeks after Virginia Gov. Ralph
   Northam ordered the removal of the most prominent and imposing statue
   along the avenue: that of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, which sits on
   state land. The removal of the Lee statue has been stalled pending the
   resolution of several lawsuits.

   The Jackson statue is the latest of several dozen Confederate symbols
   to be removed from public land in the U.S. in the five weeks since the
   death of George Floyd at the hands of police sparked a nationwide
   protest movement.

   In most instances, state or local governments moved to take down
   monuments in response to impassioned demonstrators, but in a few cases
   --including several other Virginia Confederate statues -- protesters
   toppled the figures themselves. Also this week, Mississippi retired the
   last state flag in the U.S. that included the Confederate battle
   emblem.

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