RICHMOND, Va. -- Crews are back at work removing Confederate monuments from Virginia’s capital city, a process that began last week after Mayor Levar Stoney ordered all city-owned Confederate statues cleared away amid weeks of protests over police brutality and racism.
Crews returned Thursday to the site of a monument honoring Confederate naval commander and scientist Matthew Fontaine Maury.
A statute of Maury was removed last week, but a large bronze globe that was part of the monument was left behind.
Monuments to Gen. Fitzhugh Lee and Joseph Bryan were removed from Monroe Park.
Workers now looking towards the Bryan statue. pic.twitter.com/D2HJHK4pwZ
— Chris Jenkins CBS6 (@JenkinsCBS6) July 9, 2020
Four other monuments were removed last week.
Work crews took down the Confederate Soldiers and Sailors statue on Libby Hill in Richmond on Wednesday.
A statue of Gen. J.E.B. Stuart was taken down by crews on Tuesday.
Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney ordered the removal of all city-owned Confederate statues amid the national protests against police brutality and symbols many see as racist icons.
A lawsuit filed in Richmond this week sought an emergency injunction to prevent Stoney from removing additional Confederate statues.
The anonymous plaintiff argued Stoney's use of "emergency powers" to remove the statues was a violation of a new state law giving municipalities the authority to remove statues on public land. The suit requested an emergency injunction to halt the removal of additional monuments.
CBS 6 reached out to the plaintiff's attorney and the Stoney Administration for comment. Stoney's office said they have not been served the lawsuit.
The biggest monument still standing in the capital of the Confederacy is a huge statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee.
Virginia Governor Ralph Northam said the Lee statue, which sits on state-owned property, would be removed once lawsuits that have delayed its removal are heard in court.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
