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Alabama city removes Confederate statue without notice

Mobile Confederate Monument
Associated Press

 

MOBILE, Ala. (The Birmingham News) — Alabama's port city has removed a bronze statue of a Confederate naval officer after days of protests over the police killing of George Floyd. 

Mayor Sandy Stimpson sent a string of messages on Twitter saying he ordered the removal of the likeness of Admiral Raphael Semmes. He says the decision to take down the statue is intended to remove a “potential distraction” to focusing on the city's future.

The statue had been been vandalized in the days since Floyd's death in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It stood in the middle of a downtown street for 120 years and was taken down without public notice.

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