Confederate statue in Monroe Park pulled down by protesters

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - A Confederate statue in Monroe Park was pulled down by protesters Saturday night.

The statue of Confederate leader Williams Carter Wickham was pulled down on the night of June 6.

After pulling down the statue, the group of protesters proceeded to continue their march.

On Sunday, passerby’s stop for photos of the now-empty pedestal, riddled with Black Lives Matter slogans.

“Most of my memories of childhood are in some way connected to these monuments," Sam Pinkleton, who grew up near Richmond, said. He was one of the people who stopped on Sunday.

But Pinkleton’s reason for taking a photo wasn’t for the sake of nostalgia, but to see how far his home city has come.

“I can’t believe that it’s taken this long for these monuments to come down. It’s so ridiculous that that’s what we’re talking about, and I’m so, so, so proud,” he added.

Others, like Goad Gatsby, who marched to the courthouse on Saturday, says he missed when the statue initially came down. After hearing the news of the toppling, he knew he had to document it before it was taken away.

“The descendants of [Wickham’s] family had asked for the statue to come down after the ‘Unite The Right’ in Charlottesville, so I see it as the crowd that came here last night decided to do what the descendants had asked the city to do," Gatsby said.

Police closed off the park after discovering the monument was pulled down.

VCU Police was only able to tell NBC12 that the cleanup of the pedestal would be left to the city.

Stay tuned to NBC12 for more updates.

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