RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia's attorney general says a lawsuit seeking to stop the governor's plan to remove a large statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Richmond should be dismissed.
Attorney General Mark Herring made that argument in a court filing Tuesday. He also filed a brief opposing the plaintiff's motion to extend the existing 10-day injunction preventing the statue's removal.
The lawsuit was filed against Northam by a man described as a descendant of two signatories to an 1890 deed that transferred the statue to the state. The state's brief argues the deed does not prevent the governor from removing the statue.
A hearing in the case is scheduled for Thursday.
