RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Witnesses said a large group of people was seen pulling down the Confederate statue of General Williams Carter Wickham in Monroe Park on Saturday night.
The day was full of peaceful protests in counties across Central Virginia.
Later in the evening, some people managed to topple the already-tagged statue of Wickham to the ground using ropes, witnesses tell 8News.
Kim Gray, city councilwoman and a director of the Monroe Park Conservancy, said conservancy leases the park from the city to take care of it. She said the family of General Wickham had requested the statue be taken down, and while the conservancy voted to take it down they didn’t have the authority to do it.
Gray said they’ve been quietly working through the process of getting it removed. This would have been possible due to a law that goes into effect July 1, which gives localities authority over monuments.
In addition, Gray said they found a museum who would be willing to take the statue.
