2 Confederate generals' statues removed in US Charlottesville

WASHINGTON -- Two Confederate generals' statues were removed on Saturday from public parks in Charlottesville, eastern US state Virginia, almost four years after a deadly far-right rally was held there to protest the historic city taking down Confederate statues.

Online videos showed a crowd, in cheers, gathered to watch machinery lifting the statue of Robert E. Lee from Market Street Park and then the statue of Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson from Court Square Park.

Charlottesville Mayor Nikuyah Walker spoke at Saturday's gathering, calling the removal "one small step forward" in an effort to dismantle white supremacy, according to VPM reporter Ben Paviour.

Both statues will be placed in storage, said a CNN report.

Confederate statues have become a contentious issue across the United States in recent years, as left-leaning groups say they are the remnants of a horrid past of slavery while white nationalists rally to protect the statues.

In August 2017, the far-right rally held in Charlottesville attracted national attention when white supremacists, fascists and neo-Nazis violently clashed with counter-protesters, leaving one woman dead and multiple people injured.