The Virginia Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the state of Virginia can remove the 60-foot-tall Gen. Robert E. Lee statue from a traffic circle on Monument Avenue in Richmond.
The rulings clear the way for Virginia to remove the statue, the largest confederate monument in the South.
An injunction had stopped the state from removing the statue while two cases allowing the bronze statue’s removal were pending appeal in the Virginia Supreme Court. But the state’s high court said in two unanimous rulings for both cases Thursday it could be removed.
Governor Ralph Northam issued the following statement after the Virginia Supreme Court unanimously ruled in the Commonwealth’s favor in Taylor v. Northam and Gregory v. Northam, affirming the Commonwealth’s authority to remove the Robert E. Lee Monument.
“Today’s ruling is a tremendous win for the people of Virginia. Our public memorials are symbols of who we are and what we value. When we honor leaders who fought to preserve a system that enslaved human beings, we are honoring a lost cause that has burdened Virginia for too many years.
“I am grateful to Attorney General Mark Herring, my former counsel Rita Davis, and all those who worked so hard for this victory. This ruling is an important step towards moving the Commonwealth of Virginia and the City of Richmond forward into a more inclusive, just future.
“Today it is clear—the largest Confederate monument in the South is coming down.”
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam had ordered the removal of the bronze statue, located at the intersection of Monument Avenue and Allen Avenue, and other Confederate statues in June 2020 amid unrest following the police-involved killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
But William Gregory, a descendent of the family that donated the statue of Lee on horseback for the monument filed a lawsuit against Northam and the director of the Department of General Services, which would have removed the statue.
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