April 5, 2021 03:48:31 am
The Supreme Court of Virginia Thursday ruled that the city of Charlottesville can remove two Confederate statues, including one of General Robert E. Lee for protesting the removal of which a deadly white supremacist rally took place in 2017.
The court overturned a Charlottesville Circuit Court decision in favor of a group of residents who sued to block the city from taking down statues of General Lee and General Thomas Jackson. Among the plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed against the city were the Virginia Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, Inc., and The Monument Fund, Inc. The court rejected the plaintiffs’ argument that the removal of the statues would violate a 1997 state law prohibiting localities from removing Confederate war memorials.