Virginia crews start taking down Confederate statues from Capitol Square

Friday morning saw crews beginning the removal of three Confederate-linked statues from Virginia’s Capitol Square. The monuments depict General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, two-time governor and former Confederate General William “Extra Billy” Smith, and Confederate Army surgeon Dr. Hunter Holmes McGuire. The effort traces back to legislation introduced earlier this year by Senator Adam Ebbin, which ultimately died, but the topic re-emerged during budget deliberations, securing money for the work.

The Department of General Services announced it will oversee the extraction of the statues, which were originally gifted by the Commonwealth of Virginia to the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation. This removal is part of a broader state initiative to address Confederate iconography in public spaces.