RICHMOND, Va. — A Richmond judge has heard arguments but said he would not immediately issue a ruling in a lawsuit over Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s plans to remove an enormous statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
Attorney Gen. Mark Herring’s office asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit and dissolve an existing injunction barring the removal of the statue from historic Monument Avenue.
The lawsuit was filed by William C. Gregory, a descendant of signatories to a 1890 deed that transferred the statue, pedestal and ground they sit on to the state.
His complaint argues that the state agreed to “faithfully guard” them.