Three years after a deadly car attack in Charlottesville - committed during a rally called to protest the planned removal of a Confederate war memorial - the first such memorial came peacefully down last Saturday.
A crane lifted the bronze figure of "Johnny Reb" from its granite pedestal in front of the Albemarle County courthouse. Watching was Zyahna Bryant, the woman who launched the petition to remove another Confederate statue four years ago, who said, "I'm excited - I think it's definitely way past time. That petition was in 2016, and we're now in 2020."
The Johnny Reb statue is headed to the Third Winchester Battlefield in Northern Virginia. However, statues of Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson remain standing in Charlottesville, pending action from the state Supreme Court.
