Richmond Department of Public Works employee Donte Valentine removes graffiti from the sidewalk with a pressure washer. (Photo by Jay Paul)
Barriers around Marcus-David Peters Circle, the former site of a massive statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee on Monument Avenue at Allen Avenue, were removed in late August. The fencing was erected in January 2021 following protests spurred by the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. The Lee statue, now covered in graffiti with messages calling for an end to racism and inequality, has since been dismantled and moved to the Black History Museum & Cultural Center of Virginia; the green space surrounded by a roundabout unofficially honors Peters, who was killed by a Richmond police officer in 2018 during a mental health crisis.
