A giant equestrian statue of General Robert E. Lee, the commander-in-chief of the Confederate forces in the American Civil War (1861-1865), was removed Wednesday in Virginia's capital, Richmond, after the state's governor ordered its permanent demolition.

As reported by the conservative American newspaper The Washington Times, the seven-meter-high, twelve-ton bronze equestrian statue, created by the French sculptor Marius-Jean-Antonin Mercie in 1890, was lifted by a crane from the more than 13 meters at around nine in the morning local time. from its high pedestal.

It happened 131 years after it was erected in the former capital of the Confederacy, a confederation of states formed by the southern states of the United States.

The statue was cut into pieces for easier transportation, but its final fate is not yet clear. Plaques on the platform are also expected to be removed on Thursday, as well as the time capsule in the plinth, in which one of General Lee's jacket buttons is said to have been found, will be replaced. The platform containing protesting graffiti signs will not be demolished for the time being.

Ralph Northam,

The Democratic governor of Virginia announced plans to remove the statue back in June 2020,

ten days after the police action after the death of African-American man George Floyd.

The Virginia Supreme Court ruled last week that it dismissed two lawsuits challenging and opposing the statue's removal.

Many found the statue commemorating the Confederate general and its placement on Richmond's Memorial Avenue offensive, despite the fact that General Robert E. Lee himself did not support the institution of slavery. Others, however, believed that removing the statue would be tantamount to erasing history.

More than a dozen Confederate statues have already been removed in the city,

but Virginia's decision-making public officials resisted calls for the removal of General Lee's equestrian statue until last summer.

However, this changed radically with the re-strengthening of Black Lives Matter (BLM), a national movement promoting a radical rethinking of racial, ethnic and social justice issues, triggered by the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020.

The African-American man died in police custody in Minneapolis after white police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes in the street. One year and one month later, on June 25, 2021, the police officer was sentenced to twenty-two and a half years in prison for negligent homicide.

MTI

Photo: POOL / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / GETTY IMAGES VIA AFP