NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Crews have removed a 113-year-old statue of a Confederate solider that stood atop an 80-foot-tall Confederate monument in downtown Norfolk, Virginia.
The city said in a statement Friday that the statue, nicknamed Johnny Reb, came down in less than two hours.
The 15-foot-figure was removed out of concern for public safety.
A protester had suffered life-threatening injuries in the neighboring city of Portsmouth after demonstrators pulled down a Confederate statue in that city on Wednesday.
A new state law that allows cities to remove such monuments doesn’t take effect until July. But Norfolk’s mayor said public safety trumped waiting.
