官员们宣布,弗吉尼亚州夏洛茨维尔多年争论的中心的两座邦联青铜雕像将于本周末被拆除。
这座城市将移除邦联氏族的雕像。罗伯特·e·李和托马斯·j·“石墙”杰克逊周六。
拆除李氏雕像的第一次努力已经进行了五年多。一年后,这座纪念碑成为白人至上主义者的聚集地,他们在会上谴责了这一提议“联合右翼”集会2017年8月,这导致了骚乱和离开一名妇女死亡。
Eze Amos/Getty Images
2021年4月1日,在查尔的市场街公园,可以看到南方联盟将军罗伯特·e·李的雕像..
只有雕像本身将在周六被移除;石基将暂时留在原处,稍后移除。
官方在一份声明中称,将在雕像所在的市场街公园和法院广场公园设立指定的公众观赏区新闻稿。
准备工作于周五在市场街公园周围开始,官员们在该地区设置了防护围栏并张贴了通知。
移除是在夏洛茨维尔市议会6月7日通过的决议,授权城市经理将雕像移出存放。
Eze Amos/Getty Images
罗伯特·李的雕像和写着“鸣笛支持乔治·弗勒的正义”的标志...
雕像支持者提起诉讼,并自2017年原市议会投票决定移除雕像后停止了移除。然而,4月份,弗吉尼亚最高法院推翻了下级法院的裁决认为州法律保护了纪念碑。
官员们在新闻稿中说,市议会拥有决定雕像最终处置的唯一权力。
Eze Amos/Getty Images
2021年4月1日,在正义公园,人们可以看到邦联将军托马斯“石墙”杰克逊的雕像...
这两尊雕像将被存放在城市财产的安全地点,直到对它们的命运做出最终决定。
这座城市已经征求了博物馆、政府部门和军方的意见,看他们是否对这些雕像感兴趣。到目前为止,夏洛茨维尔的城市经理已经收到了10份回复——6份来自州外,4份来自州内,他们都在接受审查。
Confederate statues in Charlottesville to be removed after yearslong legal battle
Two bronze Confederate statues at the center of yearslong debate in Charlottesville, Virginia, will be removed this weekend, officials announced.
The city will remove statues of Confederate Gens. Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson on Saturday.
The removal comes more than five years after the first effort to remove the Lee statue. A year later, the monument became a gathering point for white supremacists who decried the proposal at the"Unite the Right" rallyin August 2017, which led to rioting and leftone woman dead.
Only the statues themselves will be removed Saturday; the stone bases will be left in place temporarily and removed at a later date.
Designated public viewing areas for the removals will be set up in Market Street Park and Court Square Park, where the statues are located, officials said in anews release.
Preparations commenced Friday around Market Street Park with officials setting up protective fencing and posting notices in the area.
The removal comes following aresolution passed by the Charlottesville City Council on June 7, which authorized the city manager to remove the statues for placement in storage.
Lawsuits by the statues' supporters were filed and halted the removals since the original city council vote in 2017 to remove them. However, in April the Virginia Supreme Courtoverturned a lower court rulingthat contended state law protected the monuments.
The city council has the sole authority to determine the final disposition of the statues, officials said in the news release.
Both statues will be stored in a secure location on city property until a final decision on their fate is made.
The city has solicited museums, government branches and the military to see if they have interest in the statues. So far, the Charlottesville city manager has received 10 responses -- six from out of state and four from in state and they're all under review.