RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Police in Virginia’s capital asked on Sunday for information about the removal of a sign renaming the circle where a larger-than-life statue of Robert E. Lee stands for a man shot and killed by an officer two years ago.
The sign naming informally the grassy area the “Marcus-David Peters Circle” was installed in June by someone, apparently to highlight the location as a hub of protest against racial injustice. While state workers removed other items, the sign was allowed to remain, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.
In a news release, the Richmond Police Department said Sunday neither the city nor the police was involved in the sign’s removal, and that taking down signage without permission is illegal.
“Whoever did this may be trying to spark more violence in the City of Richmond,” the release said, adding that the department “stands with peaceful demonstrators and will not tolerate those who seek a different, destructive path.”
Peters, 24, a high-school biology teacher, was unarmed and naked on Interstate 95 during rush-hour traffic in May 2018 when he was shot by a Richmond police officer. Peters died the next day.
The Richmond prosecutor declined to seek charges against the officer, who is Black, like Peters. His report called it “an act of justifiable homicide” and that the use of deadly force was “reasonable and necessary.” Peters’ sister said he was clearly having a mental health crisis and that police should have handled the encounter without lethal force.
The Lee statue on Monument Avenue is now covered in graffiti. Gov. Ralph Northam has announced plans to remove the statue, but it’s been stalled by several lawsuits.
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