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Statue of Jefferson Davis, former President of the Confederacy, torn down in Richmond

Posted at 5:03 AM, Jun 11, 2020
and last updated 2020-06-11 08:06:40-04

RICHMOND, Va. — A statue of Jefferson Davis, the former president of the Confederacy, was pulled to the ground in Richmond on Wednesday evening.

The statue was lying in the road at the intersection of Davis and Monument Avenue when reporters arrived on the scene at about 11 p.m. Wednesday night.

A tow truck later hauled the statue away after police arrived at the scene.

Wednesday marked the second consecutive night that a statue had been toppled in Richmond. On Tuesday evening, a group knocked down a statue of Christopher Columbus in Richmond's Byrd Park and threw it into the park's lake.

No arrests have been made in either incident.

Last week, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced he planned to remove a nearby statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and place it in storage. A Richmond judge has since filed a 10-day delay in removing the statue.

A day after Northam's announcement, Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney announced that he would introduce an ordinance to remove four other Confederate statues — including the statue of Davis — that dot Richmond's Monument Avenue.

This story was originally published by WTVR in Richmond, Virginia.