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Prosecutor asks for police probe of Richmond statue-removal contract

The businessman who got the contract had previously made modest political donations to Stoney. The mayor has said the contract was handled legally and appropriately.

Credit: AP

FILE - This Wednesday July 8, 2020, file photo shows The Confederate Soldiers & Sailors Monument secured by lifting straps as it is removed from Libby Hill Park in Richmond, Va. Devon Henry, whose company handled the summer removals of Richmond's Confederate monuments, spoke with The Associated Press about navigating safety concerns for himself and his crew and previously unreported complexities of the project. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

RICHMOND, Va. — A Virginia special prosecutor has requested that state police investigate Richmond’s $1.8 million contract for the removal of the city’s Confederate statues.

The statues were taken down over the summer, and an inquiry into the contract between the city and a Richmond-area construction company owner was initiated after a political rival of Mayor Levar Stoney’s raised concerns about the deal.

The businessman who got the contract had previously made modest political donations to Stoney.

An attorney for Stoney said neither he nor the mayor was worried about the investigation.

The mayor has said the contract was handled legally and appropriately.