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Charlottesville Covers Confederate Statue With Black Shroud

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Workers in Charlottesville shrouded a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in black on Wednesday, a move intended to symbolize the city's mourning for a woman killed while protesting a violent white nationalist rally earlier this month.

Live video from the scene showed a public works truck near the base of the statue and workers gathered around it with a large black drape. They used ropes and poles to cover the imposing statue of Lee on horseback as onlookers took photos and video. Some of the crowd cheered as the cover was put in place.

Community Of Charlottesville Mourns, After Violent Outbreak Surrounding Saturday's Alt Right Rally
Flowers surround a photo of 32-year-old Heather Heyer, who was killed when a car plowed into a crowd of people protesting against the white supremacist Unite the Right rally Sunday. ( credit - Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The city council voted Tuesday to shroud the Lee statue and another of Confederate Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson at another nearby park. That vote came at the end of a hourslong meeting packed with irate residents who screamed and cursed at councilors over the city's response to the rally.

The Aug. 12 "Unite the Right" event was believed to be the largest gathering of white nationalists in a decade. Neo-Nazis, KKK members, skinhead and members of various white nationalist factions clashed violently with counter-protesters in the street adjacent to Emancipation Park, where the Lee statue stands and where the rally was to take place.

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Members of the Ku Klux Klan arrive for a rally, calling for the protection of Southern Confederate monuments, in Charlottesville, Virginia on July 8, 2017. (credit: ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP/Getty Images)

The fighting went on largely uninterrupted by authorities until the event was declared an unlawful assembly and the crowd was forced to disperse. Later, a car rammed into a crowd of demonstrators, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer.

The man who police say was driving, James Alex Fields Jr., has been charged in her death.

The death toll for the day climbed to three when a helicopter that had been monitoring the event and assisting with the governor's motorcade crashed, killing two state troopers.

Community Of Charlottesville Mourns, After Violent Outbreak Surrounding Saturday's Alt Right Rally
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA - AUGUST 13: The statue of Confederat Gen. Robert E. Lee stands in the center of Emancipation Park the day after the Unite the Right rally devolved into violence August 13, 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. The Charlottesville City Council voted to remove the statue and change the name of the space from Lee Park to Emancipation Park, sparking protests from white nationalists, neo-Nazis, the Ku Klux Klan and members of the 'alt-right.' (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The white nationalist rally was sparked by the city council's vote earlier this year to take down the Lee statue. That decision is in the midst of a legal challenge, and a judge has issued an injunction preventing the city from removing the Lee statue while the lawsuit plays out.

A state law passed in 1998 forbids local governments from removing, damaging or defacing war monuments, but there is legal ambiguity about whether that applies to statues such as the Lee monument, which was erected before the law was passed.

A hearing in the case is scheduled for Sept. 1.

By SARAH RANKIN and STEVE HELBER, Associated Press

(© Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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