Mayor Jim Gray is defending his decision to move swiftly after an Attorney General opinion cleared the way for the relocation of two Confederate statues downtown.
Gray said the city sought a ruling from Democratic Attorney General Andy Beshear last week about the legality of former Mayor Teresa Isaac’s 2003 move placing the statues of Confederate Gen. John Hunt Morgan and Confederate Secretary of War John C. Breckinridge under the control of the Kentucky Military Heritage Commission.
Gray received the opinion Tuesday morning, and by that evening the statues were being hauled away from Cheapside Park.
"At the end of the day, we did what's right," the mayor says. "We did what's right for the real history of Cheapside, this location where men, women, and children were once sold into slavery."
The mayor says the statues are being housed in storage while talks continue with their new anticipated home, The Lexington Cemetery.
"They've moved to a safe and protected place and that's what's appropriate for the time being, but I'm... very confident of the negotiations that we're conducting with the cemetery, that it's the respectful place, the right place for the statues to go," Gray added.
It’s unclear for now whether the Military Heritage Commission could challenge Gray’s decision.
The Lexington Herald-Leader reports private donors have pledged $75,000 so far toward the relocation efforts, but the city is still calculating the full costs.
