Confederate statue removed from Memphis park
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MEMPHIS, Tenn. - A crew in Memphis has removed a statue of Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest from a park after the city sold it to a private entity.
Live video from the scene captured cheers as the statue was lifted off its marble base and placed on a flatbed truck late Wednesday.
The Commercial Appeal reports that the City Council approved the sale of two public parks containing Confederate statues for $1,000 each to Greenspace Inc. Memphis Chief Legal Officer Bruce McMullen said Greenspace can legally remove the statues, which the city was unable to do. He said the statues would be stored in an undisclosed location.
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland said in a tweet that the work at the parks complies with state law.
The statue of Forrest was in Health Sciences Park. A statue of President Jefferson Davis is at Fourth Bluff Park, where police had blocked off streets nearby.