'These Monuments Were Transformed From Equestrian Statues Into Lightning Rods'
Last Saturday, a “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, protested the city's plan to remove a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. The mayor of Charlottesville, Mike Signer, had voted against its removal. He argued that “the Lee statue should remain as a reminder that many Americans were once treated as the property of others, then as second-class citizens.”
On Friday afternoon, he announced that in the wake of the violent protests, he will instead be pressing for the statue's immediate removal. “We can, and we must, respond by denying the Nazis and the KKK and the so-called alt-right the twisted totem they seek,” he said. He also addressed questions about public safety, and announced plans to commemorate the life of Heather Heyer, killed by a white-nationalist protester who drove his car into a crowd of counter-demonstrators. Here is the text of his remarks, as prepared for delivery. —Yoni Appelbaum
Today, we mourn for area resident Heather Heyer and for Jay Cullen and Berke Bates, the two Virginia State Troopers who lost their lives while serving our city. Lieutenant Cullen is being laid to
