A Virginia judge has blocked the town of Charlottesville’s effort to take away the Confederate statue that sparked a lethal white nationalist rally in 2017.
Circuit Court Judge Richard Moore dominated that any makes an attempt to take away the Robert E. Lee statue violate a state regulation defending struggle memorials, the Daily Progress reported. The resolution final week ends a lawsuit filed in March 2017 opposing the Charlottesville City Council vote to take away statue on the grounds that it sends a racist message.
The deliberate removal ostensibly prompted the Unite the Rally at which a neo-Nazi drove a automobile into counter protesters, killing Heather Heyer.
Moore issued a everlasting injunction, the Progress reported, stopping future removal. His ruling additionally utilized to a statue of Confederate basic Stonewall Jackson, additionally situated in downtown Charlottesville.
Siding with the plaintiffs and towards the town, Moore mentioned the state regulation defending struggle memorials doesn’t have discriminatory intent.
“I don’t think I can infer that a historical preservation statute was intended to be racist,” he mentioned. “Certainly, (racism) was on their minds, but we should not judge the current law by that intent.”