Gov. Jim Justice is denouncing violence by white supremacists and neo-Nazis in neighboring Virginia but indicates he has no immediate plans to act on requests to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson from the Capitol grounds in Charleston.
At a Monday press conference, Justice calls what happened in Charlottesville “despicable,” and says he’s “sympathetic” to people who feel harmed by things that recall the past.
However, he says it’s “a complex situation” and removing the statue could lead to other groups asking to remove other historical markers.
“Let’s just be respectful and find the right pathways that are the right way that makes things fit for everyone, before we off and take off and do something that’s just going to start spiraling and cause a lot of problems,” he said at the press conference.
Justice, who recently switched to Republican, says there’s no place in our society for “neo-Nazi groups and white supremacy.”
The white nationalist rally over the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville left one woman dead.