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Richmond Police insist their manpower was tied up in controlling social unrest, and that left vulnerabilities, which triggered one of the most violent summers in recent history, which also occurred amid a global pandemic and economic downturn.

In both 2018 and 2019, 11 homicides were reported during that same time period in Richmond. In 2017, the number was 16.

Over the past several months, activists have transformed the base of the sculpture instead, covering the marble and granite with the names of victims of police violence, protest chants, calls for compassion, revolutionary symbols and anti-police slogans in dozens of colors. New phrases continually appear, adding to the kaleidoscopic display of communal, collective action. People who once avoided the statue now make pilgrimages to see what has become an emblem of the Black Lives Matter movement.

In a 7-2 vote Richmond city council rejected a proposed ordinance to ban non-lethal police weapons. The legislation drafted by councilmembers Mike Jones and Stephanie Lynch failed to earn support from anyone other than its patrons. 

If passed RES 2020-R048 would have prohibited officers in the city from using tear gas, flash bangs, and rubber bullets on demonstrators.

An optimistic Mayor Levar Stoney announced in early July that the expense of removing the city's confederate statues would largely be defrayed by generous private donations. Today the organizers of the Fund To Move the Monuments announced that they would terminate their efforts with only $45,000 to contribute towards the city's $1.8 million expenses.

On May 31, as Black Lives Matter protesters marched through downtown Richmond, breaking a newly imposed curfew, police standing at the intersection of North Second and East Marshall streets heard gunshots in the area at 11:37 p.m. 

“Officers gave verbal commands to drop the weapon, which Moustapha Diop ignored. This led to a short foot pursuit. The suspect was then stopped and taken into custody at N. 1st and E. Broad streets by other officers who were in the area,” wrote Amy Q. Vu, a Richmond police spokeswoman.

After months of social change and summer of protests, residents who live in the Fan have decided to do away with the Confederate iconography on their front steps.

“The historical goal of the plaque is to represent the year that the home was built, and we would never want anyone to feel unwelcome due to an image on the plaque,” said Fan Women’s Club president Christie Wisotzki. “We just want everyone to feel welcome and to feel that the Fan is a place for everyone.”