CHARLOTTESVILLE- City council members in Charlottesville, Virginia, voted unanimously on Tuesday to cover two statues of Confederate war generals in black fabric after ejecting spectators from a chaotic council meeting as residents demanded answers over how a recent white nationalist rally turned deadly.
Many activists and local residents crowded into the meeting, which began late Monday and spilled into the wee hours of Tuesday. It was the first council meeting since the Aug. 12 rally, when a car plowed into a group of counter-protesters and killed a 32-year-old woman.
Many at the meeting shouted at the councilors and Mayor Mike Signer, forcing them at one point to leave the chamber.
Videos posted on social media showed some in the crowd yelling “shame” and “shut it down” and calling for Signer’s resignation. A photo online showed two people holding a sign that read “Blood On Your Hands” behind the council seats.
When council members returned to the chamber after spectators were removed, they voted to cover the statues of General Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, said a city spokeswoman, Paige Rice.
“Council voted unanimously at their meeting to shroud the statues to reflect the city’s mourning,” Rice said.
The Aug. 12 white nationalist rally had been organized to protest the plan by Charlottesville, which is home to the University of Virginia, to remove the statue of Lee.
-Reuters
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