NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — Early Friday morning, crews with the City of Norfolk removed the Confederate statue on top of the downtown Confederate monument, but not before the monument was tagged with spray paint Thursday night.
Crews removed most of the spray paint after removing the statue but by Friday night, protesters spray-painted the monument again.
City officials estimated it would take four to six hours to remove the statue, however, it took less than two hours. Just before 7 a.m. Friday morning, the statue was taken off the pedestal.
“I think it’s about time,” said Leah Villanueva Viray, who stopped by the monument Friday afternoon as crews cleaned spray paint off the base. “I think that that symbol is honestly really confusing and offensive, not just to the black community, but to anyone who believes in this country and says they’re anti-racist. So to have it be gone and taken away, it’s about time.”
The spray paint went up Thursday night, after Norfolk Mayor Kenny Alexander announced the statue would come down as soon as possible. City officials say the decision was made with public safety in mind after the destruction in Portsmouth and unrest across the country.
However, not everyone supports the move. Jenna Bernstein traveled to Norfolk from Tampa, Florida, to protest the decision to move the statue. She wants to see the statue completely restored.
“Social injustice is not because of dead Americans or representative of Americans that served for a cause, whether people believe it was just or not. They were conscripted to fight,” said Jenna Bernstein. “If there’s a negative ideology concerning this flag, hate the ideology, not the battle flag.”
Protesters with the group Freedom Fridays 757 marched to the Confederate monument from Lafayette Park to mark the historic moment Friday night. They said it’s a win in the fight for racial equality.
“We’re building off of the momentum of what’s going on right now with George Floyd, but we want to see change here locally as well,” said Nicole Sanders, with Freedom Fridays 757. “We want everyone to feel like they’re welcome here. We want to address the racism that’s here and all the underlying issues that’s going on.”
Sanders said she hopes to see more change, starting with a longer training period for police recruits. Protesters told 10 On Your Side this is just the beginning.
“There’s a lot of injustice in this country and this is why we’re coming out,” said James Washington Jr.
City Council has a public hearing set for July 7. Council will also discuss what happens with the monument: whether a museum or other group would like it, or if it will go to the Elmwood Cemetery.
A spokeswoman says she expects the rest of the monument to come down in early August.
