RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Richmond Police are seeking tips on information about the removal of a sign renaming the circle where a 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. Now it's no longer there.
The Richmond Police Department said Sunday that whoever took the sign may be trying to spark more violence in the city with the action. Peters was shot on Interstate 95 in 2018. A prosecutor declined to seek charges against the officer.
His report called it “an act of justifiable homicide” and that the use of deadly force was “reasonable and necessary.” AP says 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.
