A Confederate monument that helped spark a violent white supremacist rally in the US state Virginia nearly four years ago has been hoisted off its stone pedestal.
Work to remove the statue of General Robert E Lee began early yesterday morning in Charlottesville, with crews also expected to take down a second Confederate monument.
Spectators cheered as the statue was lifted off the pedestal.
Black Lives Matter protestors have in recent years challenged the public display of statues of historical figures connected to slavery.
City mayor Nikuyah Walker said: “Taking down this statue is one small step closer to the goal of helping Charlottesville, Virginia and America grapple with the sin of being willing to destroy black people for economic gain.”
The removal of the statue – and another of General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson – comes nearly four years after violence erupted at the infamous Unite The Right rally.
Heather Heyer, a peaceful counter-protester, died in the violence, which sparked a national debate over racial equity, further inflamed by Donald Trump’s insistence that there was “blame on both sides”.
Last year, a statue of Bristol slaver Edward Colston was toppled and thrown into the city’s harbour during a Black Lives Matter protest.
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