Fort Myers City Council approves removal of Robert E. Lee pedestal downtown

Reporter: Taylor Petras
Published: Updated:
A pedestal where a Robert E. Lee bust used to sit will be removed. (CREDIT: WINK News)

Fort Myer City Council during their Tuesday night meeting approved the removal of a pedestal where a Robert E. Lee bust used to sit.

The Lee bust, which has been controversial for years, was removed last May by the Sons of Confederate Veterans following the death of George Floyd at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis. Across the nation, crowds gathered at Confederate memorial sites to deface them, leading the Lee County group to take the statue off its pedestal for a scheduled cleaning.

In September, City Council approved the permanent removal of the bust. Until Sunday, when the Sons of Confederate Veterans gathered to celebrate the birthday of the Confederate general the day before the national holiday celebrating Civil Rights legend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Fort Myers Mayor Kevin Anderson said he wasn’t offended by the brief appearance of the bust over the weekend.

“I don’t feel like they were stubbing their nose at the city,” Anderson said. “They were having a birthday celebration. They put it up, had their celebration, it was peaceful, they took it down, they left.”

But to NAACP President James Muwakkil the resurgence of the bust disregarded the city’s mandate.

“That’s a disrespect to that,” Muwakkil said.

Muwakkil said it’s a small victory now that the pedestal will come down too.

“Doesn’t make me feel any type of way, because we still have work to do,” Muwakkil said. “But, that’s a sign that things are changing for the better.”

The city hopes to put the bust in a museum. Anderson said he is hoping the city will remove the bust in the next 30 days.

“It’s a balance,” he said. “We’re trying to represent all of the community.”

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