Protesters in Virginia tear down another Confederate statue

Demonstrators in Virginia have torn down another Confederate statue, news outlets reported.

The Howitzers Monument, located near Virginia Commonwealth University’s Monroe Park campus in Richmond, was toppled after protesters who spent the night marching in the rain used a rope to pull it from its pedestal.

The paint-splattered statue was seen face down on the ground as the rain continued overnight in Virginia’s capital city, according to a video from the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

It is the third Confederate statue, and the fourth monument, to be torn down by demonstrators in Virginia since international protests erupted following the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after he was pinned to the ground by a white Minneapolis officer who pressed his knee into his neck.

Statues of Confederate president Jefferson Davis and general Williams Carter Wickham as well as a Christopher Columbus have been toppled by demonstrators in recent weeks.

Protesters in Richmond started their march on Tuesday night calling for the removal of all Confederate statues, a civilian review board for police actions, and defunding of the police, among other things, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.

Before its toppling, the Howitzers Monument showed a Confederate artilleryman standing in front of a gun.

It was erected in 1892 to memorialise the city’s Civil War artillery unit, according to the Encyclopedia of Virginia.