State Puts Up Fencing Around Richmond’s Lee Monument
The Robert E. Lee monument now stands behind fencing as state officials prepare to remove statue, though it's unclear when that may happen. (Photo: Crixell Matthews/VPM News)
State officials erected fencing around Richmond’s Robert E. Lee monument today, in preparation to remove the statue. The area now enclosed was dubbed Marcus-David Peters Circle by racial justice protesters this summer.
The traffic circle around Lee has been a site of protest since last summer, when thousands took to the streets of Richmond following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The New York Times recently ranked the Lee statue, transformed by spray-painted messages, as the No. 1 piece of American protest art since World War II.