Conservative Musings: Is The Next Protest Going To Be In The Capital Of The Confederacy?

Monday, August 14, 2017

Is The Next Protest Going To Be In The Capital Of The Confederacy?

LEE3 — The equestrian statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee stands on Monument Avenue in Richmond.

BOB BROWN/times-dispatch

A Confederate heritage organization has asked the
state for permission to gather Sept. 16 at
Richmond’s Robert E. Lee monument.

The rally would come roughly a month after
Saturday’s white nationalist protest descended
into violence in Charlottesville.

The Department of General Services has received
a request from Americans for Richmond
Monument Preservation for a permit to hold
an event at the Lee Monument on Monument
Avenue, according to Dena Potter, an agency
spokeswoman, who said the application is
under review and has not been approved.

Potter said the request was submitted by Bragdon
Bowling — a former commander of the Virginia
Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans. Bowling
could not immediately be reached for comment
Sunday evening.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s office said it could not
provide information on Sunday, and Mayor Levar
Stoney also declined to comment, referring
questions to Capitol Police. Stoney spokesman
Jim Nolan said city police and Capitol police will
be meeting to discuss the request, but he could
not provide further information.

Capitol Police, as a legislative agency, would
not be involved unless and until the request is
approved by General Services as an executive
branch agency.

Richmond Police Chief Alfred Durham said more
information about the status of the permit is
expected this week.

According to an online post dated Aug. 7 on a
blog listed as being for The Virginia Flaggers,
a group called Save Southern Heritage has
obtained a permit from Capitol Police to rally at
the Lee Monument on Sept. 16. However, that
information does not match what the state
received, and the Richmond Times-Dispatch was
unable to reach anyone associated with that group.

The Virginia Flaggers says in the post that it plans
to support the efforts of Save Southern Heritage
and that a large showing is needed to make a
statement to Stoney and the Monument Avenue
Commission, a 10-member group studying ways
to add context to Richmond’s public memorials
to the Confederacy on Monument Avenue.

The first public hearing hosted by the Monument
Avenue Commission was a contentious affair that
attracted more than 500 people on Wednesday at
the Virginia Historical Society. Stoney has said he
wants to add context to monuments to
Confederate generals and Confederate President
Jefferson Davis that stand on Monument Avenue,
but does not support relocating them.