Mr Henry called the investigation “ridiculous” and added: “There was nothing outrageous going on.” Asked to comment on the dispute, Ms Gray, who lost to Mr Stoney in the 2020 Richmond mayoral election, said only that the removal work “should have cost a lot less than it did”.
With the first removal scheduled for July 1, 2020, security loomed as an unresolved issue. The city attorney felt that the mayor didn’t really have the authority to expedite the removal of the monuments under emergency protocols, and the Richmond Police Department chose not to participate, fearing it could be charged for acting illegally.
Getting help from the sheriff was another option. But the city sheriff, Antionette V. Irving, wasn’t sure it was wise to get involved, Mr. Henry and city officials recalled. Mr. Henry and Sheriff Irving attended the same church. So at one point, Mr. Henry took a selfie with the sheriff and sent it to their pastor, Dr. Lance Watson of Saint Paul’s Baptist Church, hoping the pastor would give the sheriff a helping hand.
Sheriff Irving agreed on the afternoon of the first removal to deploy deputies to help protect Mr. Henry and his team as they began dismantling a monument to Confederate General Stonewall Jackson. Since 1919, it has stood along Monument Avenue, a thoroughfare dotted with tributes to Confederate leaders.
As much as the city had sought after, statue removal is not the same as demolition work at all. Even monuments that are now devalued as symbols are often dismantled with great care. In the case of the Jackson statue, Team Henry initially couldn’t find the bolts they needed to cut to release it from its pedestal.
But once all the preparations were made, the scene played out “like a movie,” said Mr. Henry. In a pouring rain, as a church bell—almost melted into Confederate weapons during the Civil War—sounded in the background, a crane sent the Jackson statue into the sky. Hundreds of people burst into cheers – and tears.