Dec 19, 2023 - News

Arlington National Cemetery's Confederate memorial in limbo

Anna Spiegel

A Confederate memorial between gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery — The Confederate Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. Photo: Calla Kessler/The Washington Post via Getty Images

The fate of a Confederate memorial at Arlington National Cemetery is undetermined after a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order barring its removal.

Why it matters: The prominent memorial was set to be cleared away this week — part of a national reckoning with Confederate symbols and an ongoing campaign to extract them from government and military facilities.

Driving the news: A group called Defend Arlington — affiliated with Save Southern Heritage Florida — filed a federal lawsuit in Alexandria on Sunday, alleging that removing the memorial would damage it and surrounding gravesites. They argue that the memorial "promotes reconciliation between North and South."

A similar lawsuit filed by the same group was dismissed in the District.

Catch up fast: The Defense Department ordered the memorial's removal by the end of the year.

The cemetery has said that the landscape and surrounding graves will be protected during the removal, which had started Monday before being paused.

Zoom in: The bronze memorial, erected in 1914, was funded by a pro-Confederate group and has been criticized for its depiction of slavery.

Zoom out: The memorial's removal has been opposed by 40 House Republicans and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who had asked that it be displayed in the Virginia Military Institute's Civil War Museum.

What's next: A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday in Alexandria's federal court.

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Arlington National Cemetery's Confederate memorial in limbo

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