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RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Workers at the Virginia capital site where a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee was shot this week installed a new time capsule on Saturday in the statue’s massive pedestal, after efforts to locate an 1887 capsule were suspended.
The installation of the capsule, which a state government official confirmed was completed on Saturday morning, contains memories of current events, including those related to COVID-19 and protests against racial injustice .
It was last year’s protests against racism and police brutality nationwide – including in Richmond – following the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis that led Virginia Governor Ralph Northam to order the removal of the enormous statue of Lee. The statue was taken down on Wednesday, nearly a week after the Virginia Supreme Court paved the way with a ruling involving litigation that had blocked the removal.
Crews spent much of Thursday unsuccessfully locating the late 19th-century capsule that state officials say was buried in the pedestal, removing massive stones. The search did not continue. The workers were aiming to complete the reassembly of the pedestal later Saturday, according to Dena Potter, a spokesperson for the state agency managing the work.
The statue of Lee was one of five Confederate tributes along Monument Avenue in Richmond and the only state-owned one. The four statues belonging to the city were dismantled last summer. State officials plan to leave the Lee pedestal in place, at least for now, in hopes that a Monument Avenue redesign, involving the community, will begin soon.
The new capsule contained items such as an expired vial of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, a Black Lives Matter sticker and a photograph of a black ballerina with her fist raised near the statue of Lee during last summer’s protests. in Richmond.
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