General Ambrose Powell (“A.P.”) Hill is a three-time war veteran of the Mexican-American War, Seminole War, and Civil War. He was buried standing up on the soil he loved in Richmond, Virginia, inside a monument dedicated to him. The A.P. Hill monument (and grave) is slated for demolition under the unhinged authoritarian Democrat Mayor Levar Stoney. Stoney feels that despite a worsening opioid epidemic in Virginia, despite small businesses suffering due to COVID restrictions, his time (and NAACP donor money) is better spent desecrating graves.
By pursuing these plans, the city will potentially be committing class 4 and 6 felonies. According to the Code of Virginia 18.2 – 126, if a person unlawfully disturbs or disinters a human body which has been placed in a vault or grave, he or she is guilty of a class 4 felony. Virginia class 4 felonies can carry fines over one hundred thousand dollars and imprisonment, but courts often order higher amounts if there is evidence of malice or wanton disregard. This is especially the case since Hill was buried standing, so disturbance of the body will obviously occur. The City of Richmond has indicated that it will order all wrecking crews to complete the demolition with “the utmost care” but this is not enumerated in the City of Richmond’s Municipal Code. The City of Richmond often hires non-local construction crews to complete Confederate Monument demolition (see the hiring of Newport News teams) , adding insult to injury as the city refuses to hire its own people and provide some economic relief while being hellbent on digging up dead bodies.
Also according to the Code of Virginia 18.2 – 126, if a person willfully and intentionally defiles a dead human body he or she is automatically guilty of a class 6 felony. The City of Richmond indicated their intention to defile General Hill by so far storing all Confederate Monuments in the city’s sewage treatment plant. No American veteran should have his body dug up and left to rot in a sewage treatment plant.
The City of Richmond was made aware of these state statutes at its Urban Design Committee on June 10th, and the City of Richmond’s response was to seek a reprieve from the justice system of Virginia. If a city knows what it is doing is so heinous that it has to seek court approval to do it beforehand, then their morality is totally lost.
In the June 10th Urban Design Committee meeting, Richmond city councilman Max Hepp-Buchanan called all confederates “white supremacists”. Buchanan is from Seattle, Washington and has been living in Richmond for eight years. Hepp-Buchanan’s major contribution to the City of Richmond is on its website, where his employer Venture Richmond appears as the only tourist company the City of Richmond pushes on its tourist pages. Hepp-Buchanan’s company, Venture Richmond, was awarded a $25,000 Bloomberg grant with the City of Richmond, Venture Richmond was the choice advisor on the Haxall Canal Maintenance Project in 2019, and Venture Richmond is listed 1388 times on the City of Richmond’s website. Something seems fishy.
Councilmen like Hepp-Buchanan make no secret their complete and utter hatred for the southern man and woman. To them, destruction is rebuilding. Perhaps these councilmen should find what could not be destroyed in the Book of Isaiah: Woe to those who drag iniquity with the cords of falsehood. ( Isaiah 5:18-19 )
The sacrilege of the City of Richmond is made even more bitter when the Urban Design Committee lists two spots that have remained vacant, including a Citizen-At-Large . If the people of Richmond had lobbied for those positions, perhaps the votes on statues could have gone differently.
Sara Sass your name says it all about you. You go girl!! Outstanding article, thank you so much for verifying my thoughts & providing me w/more insight. I’ll keep an eye out for your future contributions.