The mayor of Lexington, Kentucky, announced he is planning to remove the two Confederate statues from his city’s former courthouse after the violent clashes between white nationalists and counter protesters in Virginia over the weekend.
Major Jim Gray revealed the news on Saturday after the riots in Charlottesville that left a woman dead after a car rammed the crowd. Two Virginia State Police Department pilots who responded to the violence were also killed when their helicopter crashed after a technical malfunction.
Gray said he had previously planned to announce the news next week, but recent events pushed him to declare the news earlier than normal.
He announced the news in a series of tweets: “I am taking action to relocate the Confederate statues. We have thoroughly examined this issue, and heard from many of our citizens.”
The next step in removing the Confederate statues involves the Mayor asking the council to support Lexington’s petition to the Ky Milltiay Heritage Commission, which the mayor says is a required next step, according to his Twitter.
He also said that the country must come together to condemn the violence from both white supremacists and Nazi hate groups.
“We cannot let them define our future,” he wrote on Twitter.
Nationalists gathered to protest the city’s plans to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee when counter protestors arrived, including Anti-Fa and Black Lives Matter, and violence between the groups erupted.
The mayor’s announcement came just a day after the violence in Charlottesville.
Groups consisting of nationalists, white supremacists, and alt-right groups were first scheduled to gather in Charlottesville’s Emancipation Park on Aug. 12 when the clashes broke out. Police soon arrived to break up the event before it began, The Hill reported.
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe declared a state of emergency for the city after the violent clashes.
From NTD.tv
READ MORE:
More Details Revealed on James Fields, Man Accused of Ramming Car into Protesters
