Workers began removing Confederate statues in Richmond, Virginia on Wednesday after the mayor of the U.S. city, the former capital of the pro-slavery Civil War South, ordered them taken down. Mayor Levar Stoney used his emergency powers to order the "the immediate removal of multiple monuments in the city, including Confederate statues," his office said. The mayor's office said removing the statues "will expedite the healing process for the city, former capital of the Confederacy constantly grappling with that legacy."

Work crews were televised removing a statue of Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, a Confederate general, on the Virginia city's Monument Avenue. The removal of Confederate statues and monuments has been a persistent demand during recent protests for racial justice in the United States. Many monuments have come under attack. Some were pulled down last month as protesters against police abuse of African Americans target symbols of the country's legacy of slavery.