RICHMOND, Va. – The city of Richmond has made good on its promise to take down all the Confederate statues along Monument Avenue, starting Wednesday afternoon with the removal of the Stonewall Jackson statue.
Mayor Levar Stoney cited “emergency powers” in ordering the removal of the four city-owned memorials along the iconic Richmond avenue. Citizens gathered around the spot where the Jackson statue stood for many years to watch city workers hoist the bronze memorial off of its stone pedestal tagged with graffiti ever since unrest in Richmond began several weeks ago.
Monument Avenue has served as a sort of epicenter for protests calling for equality in racial justice. For weeks, protesters on both sides of the issue have congregated at the memorials staging rallies and in some instances clashing with Richmond Police.
Richmond officials announced last month that they would pass an ordinance to remove the statues in conjunction with newly enacted state law allowing localities reign over Confederate monuments located on public property.
But on Wednesday, Stoney declared an emergency exists along Monument Avenue that warrants immediate takedown.
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“Failing to remove the statues now poses a severe, immediate and growing threat to public safety,” Stoney said in a statement. “For the last 33 consecutive days, people have been gathering in large numbers in our city. And as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to surge and protesters attempt to take down Confederate statues themselves or confront others who are also doing so, the risk grows for serious illness, injury or death.”
The Jackson statue, erected in 1919, stood at the intersection of Monument Avenue and Arthur Ashe Boulevard.
Minutes before cranes separated the Jackson statue from its column base, a storm rolled through the scene. Increasingly intense rains drenched the crowd while lightning occasionally streaked across the clouds.
Richmond native Skyler Adkins said the weather would never turn him away.
“So many people have gone through so much more, especially in the past, think about the reason these statues are up in the first place,” Adkins said. “People have been fighting, so like I’ve been telling people, rain doesn’t hurt anybody.”
Adkins said he felt compelled to show up so he could be certain the monument was taken down.
“I just wanted to see it happen. This sounds funny but just to make sure it happened. I know how dead set people are on keeping these up,” Adkins said.
A famous face also made up the crowd. Mike Henry, known for voicing Cleveland on cartoon TV show "Family Guy," stayed through the weather to see the scene.
Henry made national headlines last week when he announced that he would no longer voice Cleveland. As white voice actor, Henry said on Twitter that he was quitting the role because “persons of color should play characters of color.”
Originally from Richmond, Henry said the monument’s removal is a strong start towards changes like prison reform, equal opportunity and creating generational wealth in African American communities.
“I was so happy to see this,” Henry added.
Dwight Walter Jones II, a student, said the statue’s removal invoked emotions.
“For me, my great-great grandmother on my mom’s side was a slave, so for me to be here for her and everyone else that stands oppressed was important,” Jones II said. “Seeing the statue come down is like seeing a symbol of oppression for my ancestors come down too.”
Other Confederate monuments on the avenue commemorate former Confederate president Jefferson Davis, Confederate navy Admiral Matthew Fontaine Maury and Confederate army General James E.B. Stuart.
On the evening of June 10, the Davis statue was taken down by protesters and dragged to the edge of the grassy median where it stood for 113 years.
The fifth Confederate monument, honoring Gen. Robert E. Lee, is owned by the state. Gov. Ralph Northam has ordered it to be taken down, but a reported descendant of one of the benefactors of the statue successfully sought an injunction blocking anything to be done with it.
“This is a historic day for our Commonwealth,” said Grant Fox, communications director for the Democratic Party of Virginia. “The symbolism of these monuments being removed in what was once the capitol of the Confederacy cannot be understated. I’m looking forward to seeing other cities across Virginia remove their Confederate monuments as well.”
Republican state Sen. Amanda Chase, who is seeking the GOP nomination for governor next year, called Stoney “a disgrace” for ordering the removal, which was taking place just as severe thunderstorms began rolling through central Virginia. The weather issue was not lost on Chase.
“What a disingenuous joke,” Chase noted in a Facebook post. “If you don’t like Virginia, resign and move.”
Contributing: Sean Jones, Leilia Magee and Scott P. Yates.
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Stonewall Jackson statue comes down along Richmond's Monument Avenue - USA TODAY
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