Confederate monuments have been toppled across the country in states including Alabama, South Carolina, and Virginia during the historic George Floyd protests sweeping the country.
On Tuesday morning the bronze statue of Confederate soldier ‘Appomattox’ was taken down in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia by its owners who feared it would be vandalized in demonstrations.
The status, erected in 1889 to honor Confederate soldiers, has been a point of controversy for years but remained standing after repeated demands for removal, until this week.
Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson tweeted photos of the statue removal saying, ‘Alexandria, like all great cities, is constantly changing and evolving.’
On Tuesday morning the bronze status of Confederate soldier ‘Appomattox’ was taken down in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia by its owners the United Daughters of the Confederacy for fear that it would get vandalized as other Confederate monuments have amid protests
The status, erected in 1889 to honor Confederate soldiers, has been a point of controversy for years but remained standing after repeated demands for removal, until this week. A crane pictured picking up the historic statue
Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson tweeted photos of the statue removal saying, ‘Alexandria, like all great cities, is constantly changing and evolving’
The bronze status stood at its post in downtown Alexandria for nearly 130 years. The statue stands with his back to the nation’s capital as he gazes towards where the bloody battlefields of the Civil War once stood
A city spokesperson said the owner of the statue – the United Daughters of the Confederacy – notified the city Monday that they would remove the statue.
Mayor Wilson said the group opted to remove the memorial because other segregation-era statues have been vandalized in protests sweeping the nation.
It was removed following seven days of protests, both peaceful and violent, across the country to decry the police killing of black man George Floyd.
The owners had previously planned to relocate the 131-year-old statue in July, in accordance with a new state law that allows localities to remove, relocate or contextualize Confederate monuments.
On Monday night the 115-year-old Confederate Soldiers and Sailors monument in Birmingham, Alabama was removed from its pedestal after it became a focal point in protests against police brutality on Sunday night into early Monday.
In Birmingham, Alabama the 115-year-old Confederate Soldiers and Sailors monument was removed from its pedestal on Monday night
The historic monument located in Birmingham’s Linn park was removed Monday evening after it became a focal point of protests that led to unrest in the city on Sunday night into Monday
Workers pictured taking apart the historic statue that served as constant reminder of the losing faction in the American Civil war
The Confederate Soldiers and Sailors monument in Birmingham’s Linn Park was heavily defaced by protesters decrying police brutality over the weekend
Sarah Collins Rudolph smiles with her husband George Rudolph in front of the remains of the Confederate memorial
The status was removed after the city’s Mayor Randall Woodfin vowed to remove offensive statues in the city.
It was dismantled on what would have been the 212th birthday of Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy.
The statue had been heavily defaced and covered in graffiti in protests in the city this past week. Now all that’s left are the graffitied words ‘Black Lives Matter.’
Last week a crowd of protesters decrying police brutality toppled a statue of Confederate Navy captain Charles Linn in a park named after him in Birmingham, Alabama.
The Linn monument, just like many other Confederate soldier monuments in the South, has been a point of contentious debate.
Previous efforts to remove it were blocked by the Alabama attorney general in defense of the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act, a Republican-backed legislation aimed at making it harder to remove Confederate monuments.
Birmingham: An unidentified man walks past a toppled statue of Charles Linn, a city founder who was in the Confederate Navy, in Birmingham, Albama on Monday following a night of unrest
In Montgomery, Alabama a statue of General Robert E Lee, the Commander of the Confederate Army in the Civil War, was toppled on Monday. The empty pedestal that once held the monument pictured Tuesday
The standing statue of Robert E. Lee in front of Lee High School in Montgomery, Alabama pictured above in photo from 2012
This image shared to Facebook shows people standing around the fallen monument in protests over the weekend
Police pictured next to the fallen Robert E. Lee statue after it was toppled in front of the Lee High School, which has a majority black student population
But the protests led locals to deal with the monument in their own way.
One person shared video of the statue’s fall on Twitter saying: ‘This is the only kind of destruction we need. Stop burning down the community and burn down the confederate relics.’
In Nashville, Tenneessee a statue of controversial former lawmaker and newspaper publisher Edward Carmack, who was known for his racist views, was torn down on Saturday
Protesters brought down the status that stood outside the state Capitol after a peaceful demonstration turned violent on Sunday
Protesters hold signs around the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia on Tuesday
A group of protesters gather around the statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia chanting ‘Tear it down’
In Montgomery, Alabama a statue of General Robert E Lee, the Commander of the Confederate Army in the Civil War, was toppled on Monday.
Four people were charged with criminal mischief after they removed the statue amid nationwide protests.
A Montgomery Public Schools spokesperson confirmed Tuesday the system has the piece and that it is in storage for safekeeping.
In Nashville, Tenneessee a statue of controversial former lawmaker and newspaper publisher Edward Carmack, who was known for his racist views, was torn down on Saturday.
Confederate monuments that haven’t been toppled have been heavily vandalized, such as the Robert E. Lee memorial and the Stonewall Jackson status in Richmond, Virginia and the Confederate Defender status in Charleston, South Carolina, which are now covered in graffiti and spray paint.