Richmond’s Jefferson Davis Statue Torn Down, More Monuments Removed In Portsmouth, Drive-Through Convention Set For Saturday

From the Virginia Mercury:

By Ned Oliver

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• Protesters on Richmond’s Monument Avenue tore down a statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Police and work crews responded around 11:30 p.m., loading it on a truck as bystanders yelled, “Take it to the dump” and “Throw it in the lake.”—Richmond Times-Dispatch

• In Portsmouth, a brass band played as demonstrators beheaded four bronze figures and pulled down one from a downtown Confederate memorial, which was erected 28 years after the Civil War ended on a site that had been used as a slave whipping post.—The Virginian-PIlot

• “Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam has both ‘the authority and the moral obligation’ to remove a massive statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Attorney General Mark Herring’s office said in a court filing Wednesday.”—Associated Press

• Police in Henrico say they seized guns and a “grand dragon robe” from the home of a Ku Klux Klan leader charged with driving his truck into a Black Lives Matter protest, injuring at least two.—Richmond Times-Dispatch

• Officials in Chesterfield will weigh a zoning request from a group seeking permission to erect a 112-foot flagpole alongside Interstate 95, atop which they plan to fly a Confederate battle flag.—Chesterfield Observer

• “Americans disapprove of flying the Confederate flag, but remain opposed to removing monuments and changing the names of buildings that honor the Confederacy,” a new HuffPost/YouGov poll finds. Views on the issue have remained largely unmoved in recent years, a contrast to shifting opinions recently seen on some issues regarding racism and policing.”—HuffPost

• “A man who served decades in prison for the killing of a Richmond police officer and whose parole grant sparked a still-continuing investigation by Virginia’s government watchdog agency has been released from prison.”—Associated Press

• Virginia’s stay-at-home order expired Wednesday as the number of COVID-19 deaths state-wide surpassed 1,500.—The Roanoke Times

• Asked about large crowds at protests around the state, Health Commissioner Dr. Norman Oliver likened the demonstrators to frontline health providers. “In the same way that other people put themselves in a situation where they might have heightened exposure to COVID-19 but do so to help others, that we consider them to be heroes, it’s the same thing here.”—The Progress-Index

• Kroger employees in Hampton Roads and the Richmond area protested the end of $2-an-hour extra “hero pay” the grocer had been paying during the pandemic.—The Virginian-Pilot, Richmond Times-Dispatch

• “Barring a federal waiver, the Virginia Department of Education expects school districts across the state to give Standards of Learning tests in the spring of the 2020-21 school year.”—Richmond Times-Dispatch

• Citing traffic concerns, Chesapeake planning officials rejected an application by Colonial Downs to open a slots parlor in a local mall.—The Virginian-Pilot

• “Several thousand Republicans will travel to a church parking lot outside Lynchburg on Saturday to decide between freshman U.S. Rep. Denver Riggleman and Bob Good, a former Liberty University official challenging him from the right.”—The Washington Post

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