NORFOLK, Va. - The Norfolk City Council has approved a resolution to request information from the Attorney General on how to legally move the Confederate monument in downtown to Elmwood Cemetery.
Currently, it is not legal to move the statue because of state code. However, the council says that if the Attorney General will allow them to legally move the statue, it will be moved to Elmwood.
Last week, Mayor Kenny Alexander said he would make a recommendation to City Council that they move the Confederate memorial on Main Street to a more suitable location to honor the Confederate war dead.
Alexander said times have changed and a cemetery where the war dead are resting may be the best place to honor them. He also said this is a suggestion and he will discuss this with council and the body will make the final decision.
This news comes after Norfolk City Council received many requests to remove the monument in 2015. The topic was discussed at a retreat and council decided to keep the monument because of its "historic value," the mayor said in a letter. He said with last weekend's tragic events in Charlottesville that requests to remove the monument had been renewed.
Mayor Alexander said it is appropriate to re-examine the matter.
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Governor Terry McAuliffe appeared to be on the same page as Alexander, saying he encourages Virginia's localities and the General Assembly to take down the monuments and "relocate them to museums or more appropriate settings."
Click here to read Mayor Alexander's entire letter.
