RICHMOND, Va. — Concrete barriers have been installed around the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Virginia's capital city, hours after demonstrators tore down a different Confederate monument.
The Virginia Department of General Services said it was erecting the barriers Wednesday morning to protect the safety of demonstrators and the structure.
The action came shortly after protesters toppled the Howitzers Monument located near Virginia Commonwealth University’s Monroe Park campus on Tuesday.
It's the third Confederate statue, and the fourth monument, to be torn down by demonstrators in Virginia following the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed a knee into his neck.