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.