Judge Clears the Way for Removal of Confederate Statue at Arlington

A federal judge in Virginia has ruled that the removal of a Confederate memorial at Arlington National Cemetery can proceed, denying a request from a group called Defend Arlington to keep the memorial in place. The judge found that the group had not shown it was in the public interest to leave the memorial undisturbed and that adjacent graves were not being disturbed. The Army had previously directed the dismantling of the divisive statue, which depicts a Black woman holding the baby of a White Confederate officer and an enslaved man accompanying his enslaver into battle. The removal will now proceed, with surrounding graves and headstones carefully protected during the process.