A judge in Virginia has allowed the removal of the controversial Confederate statue at Arlington National Cemetery following a lawsuit by a group called Defend Arlington that initially led to a temporary order preventing its removal, amid ongoing objections from Republican members of Congress and Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin.
Key Facts
Work was underway to remove the statue on Monday when a federal judge in Virginia issued a temporary order to halt its removal, in light of a lawsuit filed by the group Defend Arlington.
However, in an opinion filed in court on Tuesday, Judge Roslyn Alston stated that many of the legal concerns raised by the group had been discussed and rejected in a previous lawsuit they filed regarding the statue.
He also wrote that the group’s lawsuit, filed on Sunday, failed to demonstrate how the removal of the statue would cause irreparable harm to the site’s history or the surrounding memorials, especially since the statue’s base and foundation would remain in place and the controversial statue is likely to be re-erected elsewhere.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, a spokesperson for Arlington National Cemetery stated that the military would immediately resume the removal process for the statue, and that “the surrounding graves and memorials and landscapes will be carefully protected by a dedicated team, maintaining the sanctity of all who are buried there.”
Crucial Quote
“I did not see any desecration of graves,” Alston said in court, according to the Associated Press. “Not even the grass had been disturbed.” Alston indicated he issued the order to halt the statue’s removal after receiving a call claiming that the graves surrounding the statue were being disturbed, but found this was not the case when he visited the site himself, according to the Associated Press.
Main Background
The Naming Commission was established by Congress in 2021 following the police killing of George Floyd, as the nation grappled with the debate on systemic racism and the concern over the continued presence of Confederate symbols, memorials, and names in military installations. Since then, the commission has made recommendations to rename or remove many controversial statues, such as Fort Bragg in North Carolina, which was named after a Confederate general and has now been renamed Fort Liberty.
The controversial Confederate statue at Arlington National Cemetery, erected in 1914, depicts the “Lost Cause” narrative of the Civil War, a story that romanticizes the antebellum South and denies the horrors of slavery. It features, among other things, an enslaved Black man following his owner into battle and a Black woman holding a white officer’s child.
The Naming Commission recommended the removal of the statue last year as part of its efforts to rename and remove military statues, ships, and other installations that celebrate the Confederacy. However, this decision has faced opposition from Republican officials. More than 40 Republican members of Congress signed a letter to the Department of Defense arguing that the statue is not intended to celebrate the Confederacy but to represent unity and national reconciliation after the Civil War. Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin announced his intention to relocate the statue to another site.
Opposition
In its lawsuit, the group Defend Arlington claimed that the removal of the statue would lead to “the desecration, damage, and destruction of the long-standing statue at Arlington National Cemetery as a grave marker and hinder the possibility of the statue being registered on the National Register of Historic Places.” The group alleged that the Department of Defense did not conduct the necessary environmental review; however, Judge Alston stated in his order that another court in Washington D.C. had already rejected this claim in a previous lawsuit filed by the group.
Further Reading
Judge halts removal of Confederate statue at Arlington National Cemetery, report says
Fort Bragg is renamed Fort Liberty as the military rebrands Confederate monuments
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