Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
They didn’t hold a ceremony. They didn’t send a press release. On Friday, August 28, crews in Capitol Square lifted Virginia’s last state-owned Confederate statues off the grounds of the Capitol — Stonewall Jackson, William “Extra Billy” Smith, and Dr. Hunter Holmes McGuire — and hauled more than a century of bronze off the lawn.
Virginia Insider host Uriah Kiser walks through what happened, how it was paid for, and why almost no one in Richmond was invited to watch.
The statues came down under Budget Item 71 #1c, not a standalone vote the public could easily track. Sen. Adam Ebbin of Alexandria introduced SB636 to remove them. That bill passed the Senate on a 21-19 party-line vote and then died in House Appropriations after cost estimates approached $2 million. Lawmakers revived the project in the June appropriations package used to keep state government open. The Department of General Services confirmed the work and said the Commonwealth has gifted the monuments to the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation for battlefield display — not a melt-down like Charlottesville.
That same Friday, Gov. Abigail Spanberger was not standing in Capitol Square. She appeared on CNN and then spoke at the March on Washington 2026 “Defend the Vote” rally organized with Rev. Al Sharpton. Kiser puts the two scenes next to each other: empty pedestals in Richmond, national cameras in D.C.
This is also the unfinished chapter after 2020, when Monument Avenue came down under then-Mayor LeVar Stoney and large pieces of that collection sat for years at a wastewater plant off I-95. Visitors once came from around the world to walk those streets. The question now is what story Virginia still tells on the grounds of its own Capitol — and whether packing controversial projects into must-pass budget bills is how Richmond now makes history disappear.
Like this video, share it with another Virginian, subscribe, and hit the bell so you don’t miss the next statewide report. Drop your take in the comments: removal, relocation, or erasure?
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Sources:
VPM: vpm.org/news/2026-08-28/richmond-confederate-statues-capitol-square-stonewall-holmes
WWBT 12 On Your Side: 12onyourside.com/2026/08/28/three-confederate-monuments-taken-down-capitol-square
WTVR CBS 6: wtvr.com/news/local-news/richmond/removing-confederate-statues-capitol-square-aug-28-2026
Richmond Times-Dispatch: richmond.com/news/state-regional/article_49d25b64-090a-400e-9985-341e1170e278.html
Budget Item 71 #1c: budget.lis.virginia.gov/amendment/2026/2/HB30/Introduced/CR/71/1c
SB636: lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/SB636
They didn’t hold a ceremony. They didn’t send a press release. On Friday, August 28, crews in Capitol Square lifted Virginia’s last state-owned Confederate statues off the grounds of the Capitol — Stonewall Jackson, William “Extra Billy” Smith, and Dr. Hunter Holmes McGuire — and hauled more than a century of bronze off the lawn.
Virginia Insider host Uriah Kiser walks through what happened, how it was paid for, and why almost no one in Richmond was invited to watch.
The statues came down under Budget Item 71 #1c, not a standalone vote the public could easily track. Sen. Adam Ebbin of Alexandria introduced SB636 to remove them. That bill passed the Senate on a 21-19 party-line vote and then died in House Appropriations after cost estimates approached $2 million. Lawmakers revived the project in the June appropriations package used to keep state government open. The Department of General Services confirmed the work and said the Commonwealth has gifted the monuments to the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation for battlefield display — not a melt-down like Charlottesville.
That same Friday, Gov. Abigail Spanberger was not standing in Capitol Square. She appeared on CNN and then spoke at the March on Washington 2026 “Defend the Vote” rally organized with Rev. Al Sharpton. Kiser puts the two scenes next to each other: empty pedestals in Richmond, national cameras in D.C.
This is also the unfinished chapter after 2020, when Monument Avenue came down under then-Mayor LeVar Stoney and large pieces of that collection sat for years at a wastewater plant off I-95. Visitors once came from around the world to walk those streets. The question now is what story Virginia still tells on the grounds of its own Capitol — and whether packing controversial projects into must-pass budget bills is how Richmond now makes history disappear.
Like this video, share it with another Virginian, subscribe, and hit the bell so you don’t miss the next statewide report. Drop your take in the comments: removal, relocation, or erasure?
Support Virginia Insider
Become a Member → youtube.com/channel/UCFRsz0wQzFOpQG6_HUwLMRA/join
Follow Virginia Insider:
• YouTube → youtube.com/@VirginiaInsider
• X → https://x.com/virginiainsider
• Facebook → facebook.com/virginiainsider
• Rumble → rumble.com/c/c-7897060
Sources:
VPM: vpm.org/news/2026-08-28/richmond-confederate-statues-capitol-square-stonewall-holmes
WWBT 12 On Your Side: 12onyourside.com/2026/08/28/three-confederate-monuments-taken-down-capitol-square
WTVR CBS 6: wtvr.com/news/local-news/richmond/removing-confederate-statues-capitol-square-aug-28-2026
Richmond Times-Dispatch: richmond.com/news/state-regional/article_49d25b64-090a-400e-9985-341e1170e278.html
Budget Item 71 #1c: budget.lis.virginia.gov/amendment/2026/2/HB30/Introduced/CR/71/1c
SB636: lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/SB636
