Crowd on hand for unveiling of John Lewis statue at spot where Confederate monument once stood

DECATUR, Ga. (AP) — A crowd was on hand at a city park in Georgia Saturday to witness the unveiling of a large bronze statue of the late civil rights leader and congressman John Lewis that stands in the same spot as a contentious Confederate monument that was dismantled four years ago.

The crowd that included neighbors, politicians and civil rights leaders applauded when a black veil was pulled down to reveal the the 12-foot-tall (3.7-meter-tall) statue of Lewis at Decatur’s historic square, Atlanta television station WSB-TV reported.

Lewis was known for his role at the front lines of the Civil Rights Movement and was a Democratic congressman from Georgia. He died in 2020 from pancreatic cancer.

Lewis’ statue stands in the same spot as a obelisk that was erected by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1908 and removed in 2020. Groups like the Beacon Hill Black Alliance for Human Rights and Hate Free Decatur had been pushing for the Confederate monument to be removed since the deadly 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

The monument was among those around the country that became flashpoints for protests over police brutality and racial injustice, following the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis. The city of Decatur then asked a Georgia judge to order the removal of the monument, which was often vandalized and marked by graffiti, saying it had become a threat to public safety.