Virginia gov faces new hurdle in bid to remove Lee statue

A judge dismissed a legal challenge Monday that h been blocking Virginia officials from removing a towering statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from state's capital city, but he immediately imposed ar injunction against dismantling figure.

new 90-day injunction bars Gov. Ralph rtham's ministration from “removing, altering, or dismantling, in any way” larger-than-life statue of Lee on a prominent Richmond avenue while claims in a lawsuit filed by local property owners are litigated.

w covered in graffiti, Lee monument has become a focal point and garing spot amid Richmond's sustained anti-racist protests since police custody death in Minnesota of a Black man, George Floyd . rtham anunced plans in June to remove statue, citing pain felt around nation by Floyd's killing.

Floyd's death sparked a renewed wave of Confederate monument removals across U.S., just like a violent 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville before it and a mass shooting at a historic African American church in South Carolina before that.

Should a court eventually clear way, it won’t be a simple task to take down 21-foot- (6.4-meter) equestrian statue of Lee, military commander of Confederacy that for nearly all of Civil War h its seat in Richmond. statue weighs about 12 tons (11 metric tonnes) and sits on a massive pedestal. Removal plan calls for cutting it into three sections for eventual reassembly elsewhere.

Richmond Circuit Court Judge W. Reilly Marchant wrote in decision released Monday that “ public interest does weigh in favor" of a temporary injunction barring statue's removal.

Separately, Marchant dismissed entirely as t “legally viable” claims filed by a descendant of signatories to an 1890 deed that transferred statue to state, and he dissolved an existing injunction in that case.

Plaintiff William C. Gregory, great-grandson of land dors, h argued state agreed to “faithfully guard” and “affectionately protect” statue on historic Monument Avenue that is among most prominent Confederate tributes in U.S. His attorney didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

goverr appreciates dismissal of Gregory case and “looks forward to ar victory in court as soon as possible,” his spokeswoman, Alena Yarmosky, said in a statement.

“This statue will come down — and Virginia will be better for it,” she said.

In property owners' case , Marchant found that plaintiffs have general standing to sue.

Four of plaintiffs own property near statue; ar is a trustee of a property owner. Among m is Helen Marie Taylor, a longtime Monument Avenue resident and defender of statues. group argues that removing Lee statue — last Confederate statue w standing on Monument Avenue — could result in loss of neighborhood’s National Historic Landmark designation, “which will have a substantial verse impact, “ including loss of ”favorable tax treatment and reduction in property values.”

In deciding wher to issue an injunction, Marchant considered one of ir five claims — that y have a right to enforce restrictive covenants contained in deeds from 1887 and 1890 dealing with statue and land it rests upon. judge found that plaintiffs are likely to succeed on that issue “under common law doctrine of restrictive covenants running with land.”

He said he would hear evidence and arguments on all five counts at ar hearing. Court records did t indicate such a hearing has been scheduled.

University of Virginia law professor Richard Schragger said judge’s ruling was “favorable” for property owners.

“That doesn't mean state can't prevail but that judge has at least taken basic facts and re m in a favorable light for plaintiffs,” said Schragger, who teachers property law and whose scholarship includes a focus on intersection of constitutional law and local government law.

He said he expects case to end up before Supreme Court of Virginia on appeal.

Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring has filed a motion to dismiss property owners' lawsuit, and “remains committed to ensuring this divisive, antiquated relic is removed as soon as possible,” according to a statement from his spokeswoman, Charlotte Gomer.

Patrick McSweeney, an attorney for property owners, has said he does t comment on pending litigation.