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Virginia evicts Confederate monuments from its state Capitol

A number of statues and busts of Confederate generals and officials have been removed from the Virginia State Capitol.
Credit: AP
Workmen place plywood beside the statue of Robert E. Lee in the Old House Chamber inside the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond, VA Thursday night, July 23, 2020. All busts and plaques relating to the Confederacy were removed.

RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia has removed from its iconic state capitol the busts and a statue honoring Confederate generals and officials. 

That includes a bronze statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee positioned in the same spot where he stood to assume command of the state’s armed forces in the Civil War nearly 160 years ago. 

Virginia House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn quietly ordered the Lee statue and busts of generals J.E.B. Stuart, Stonewall Jackson, Confederate President Jefferson Davis, and others removed from the historic Old House Chamber. 

A crew worked through the night Thursday to have them out of the Capitol by Friday morning.

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