In Richmond, Virginia, Governor Ralph Northam on Thursday ordered the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee from the state capital after it was vandalized during recent mass protests. Richmond’s African American Mayor Levar Stoney welcomed the move.

Mayor Levar Stoney: “We have two pandemics in this country: COVID-19 and racism. One is 6 months old, the other 400 years old. And as the events of the last months and the last two weeks have made painfully clear, both are lethal, especially for Black and Brown people.”