The Robert E. Lee Statue In Virginia Has Been Torn Down (And Sawed Into Pieces), And People Are Jubilant

One of the largest Confederate monuments in America just became the most chopped up monument, and people are loving it. Thanks to an order from Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, the Robert E. Lee statue in Richmond was finally removed on Wednesday morning. As a crowd gathered to watch, the statue was lifted off of its pedestal, prompting cheers and applause.

However, while the crowd erupted into jubilant celebration, the team tasked with removing the statue now found themselves faced with a problem: How the heck to get red of this thing. While getting the statue down wasn’t an issue, Lee essentially had to be sawed off his horse at the waist, which solved the problem of how to haul it away, but that was just one part of the logistical nightmare. Via the Associated Press:

The job was overseen by Team Henry Enterprises, led by Devon Henry, a Black executive who faced death threats after his company’s role in removing Richmond’s other Confederate statuary was made public last year. He said the Lee statue posed their most complex challenge.

“It won’t transport in this height, so we need to lift the rider off the horse and transport it that way. From a thickness standpoint, we don’t know how long it will take. Are there iron supports? It’s a total mystery,” Henry said Wednesday.

While the demolition crew gets to work transforming the Confederate general into a pile of rubble, people on Twitter joined in the celebratory mood as the statue’s removal started to trend as videos from the event bounced across social media. You can see some of the reactions below:

https://twitter.com/LilyEPloski/status/1435612178074136577

(Via Associated Press)