Va. city can move ‘Johnny Reb’ statue

The Virginia city of Norfolk has the right to move its “Johnny Reb” Confederate statue from a busy downtown intersection to a local cemetery, the state attorney general and a local prosecutor have determined.

Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney Gregory Underwood filed court papers late Tuesday saying his office and the office of Attorney General Mark Herring have determined the statue, dedicated in 1907, is technically exempt from a state law banning the removal of monuments to war veterans.

The law, which dates back to 1904, banned counties from moving such memorials. It was updated in 1997 to include cities in the ban. Underwood says the city would only be governed by the law if the statue were built after 1997.

He adds that neither his nor Herring’s office have any interest in stopping the city from moving the eight-story monument, which features a Confederate soldier atop a pedestal. The site has drawn a series of protests with chants of “Johnny Reb is not welcome here.”

“I have no intention of ever taking any enforcement actions,” Underwood wrote. “In my judgment, I would lack the authority to bring any enforcement action regarding the monument ... because the city of Norfolk erected that monument nearly a century before the General Assembly amended these challenged statutes.”

Norfolk officials voted to remove the statue more than two years ago, soon after a deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville prompted by that city’s plans to remove a Confederate statue from a downtown park. That incident spurred scores of cities across the nation to tear down or move Confederate memorials.

The Norfolk vote, however, came with a proviso that the statue would be moved if it was legal. Last year, the city filed suit against the state, the state attorney general and Underwood claiming the state law banning the removal of war memorials infringed on the right of free speech.

Norfolk Mayor Kenny Alexander told the Virginian-Pilot he would leave details of the monument’s move to city staff.

BILL TIERNAN/AP FILE The 15-foot figure of a Confederate soldier will be moved from downtown Norfolk, Va., to a local cemetery, officials have determined.