A crowd cheered as workers in Charlottesville removed a Confederate statue near the site of a violent white nationalist rally three years ago.

The removal of a bronze figure of a Confederate soldier known as “At Ready” is seen in Charlottesville as a milestone in eliminating divisive symbols of the Civil War.

The Washington Post reported that the process of removing the statue began on Saturday morning as workers affixed straps to the 900-pound statute to prepare to remove it from its base.

A crowd of about 100 people cheered behind metal barricades as the figure was lifted from its pedestal and lowered to the ground.

The statue has been outside the Albermarle County courthouse for 111 years.

Members of the crowd all wore masks amid the coronavirus pandemic. Some wore blue Union Civil War caps and danced to music broadcast by a local radio station.

The cheerful scene was in stark contrast to the violence at the Unite The Right rally on August 12, 2017.

One woman was killed and dozens were injured when a self-avowed white supremacist drove his car into a crowd of people protesting over the white nationalist gathering.

“This is a magnificent moment,” said local community organiser Don Gathers. “Much of the racial tension, strife and protest we’re seeing across the country emanates from right here in Charlottesville. But now we’re moving the needle in a positive way.”

Albemarle County supervisors voted earlier this summer to take down the statute, which is located within the city of Charlottesville.

The statue was not the focal point of the 2017 rally, but it is a block away from the statue of Confederate Gen Robert E Lee that white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups said they were defending in the clash.

Charlottesville’s city council has voted to remove both Lee and a nearby monument to fellow Gen Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson, but a small group of Confederate supporters filed a lawsuit to save them.

The case is headed to the Supreme Court of Virginia and could take months to be resolved.

An alleged white supremacist has appeared in court accused of plotting an act of terror in a bid to bring about a race war.

The 16-year-old boy, who cannot be named because of his age, was allegedly caught with a shopping list for a Molotov cocktail when he was arrested on March 13.

The teenager, from Durham, appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London on Wednesday charged with six terror offences.

Prosecutors allege he is a white supremacist who believes in the need for violence to bring about a race war.

Wearing blue jeans and a black jacket, he stood outside the dock next to his father to confirm his name, date of birth, address and that his nationality is white British.

He is charged with one count of engaging in preparation of an act of terrorism between October 10 2017 and March 13.

The charge, under section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006, says his planning included reading extreme right-wing ideological texts, searching for synagogues and trying to secure ammonium nitrate.

It also alleges he began drafting the “Manual for practical and sensible guerrilla warfare against kike system in the Durham City area”, searched for material on firearms, explosives, ammunition and weapons, and engaged in sexual touching of a minor as a “desensitisation technique”.

The youth faces one count of disseminating a terrorist publication, called “DIY Firearms, Modification and Ammunition”, and one count of possessing an article for terrorist purposes – a handwritten note of Molotov cocktail ingredients.

He is further charged with three counts of possession of information useful in the preparation of an act of terrorism, including electronic documents entitled “The Big Book of Mischief”, “Making of Ricin” and “Homemade C4”.

He is also charged with sexually touching a child under the age of 13.

The family of murdered Iranian-American engineering student Shayan Mazroei, 22, want authorities to consider it a hate crime.

Craig Tanber, a white supremacist gang member allegedly stabbed Mazroei outside a California bar on September 7. Given his gang links and ideology, the family’s attorney Neama Rahmani wants a closer look at Taber’s motive.

“Our clients lost their only child to a heinous act of racism and violence,” said Neama Rahmani of West Coast Trial Lawyers, the law firm representing the Mazroei family. “We will not rest until we obtain justice against those responsible for Shayan’s tragic death.”

Witnesses claim that the suspect’s girlfriend described Mazroei as a ‘terrorist’ and said “f—ing Iranians” before Tanber attacked him.

Investigators are not convinced that race was a motivating factor.

“It’s not even close to have enough evidence to charge it as a hate crime. It is a murder, it is charged as a murder,” said Senior Deputy District Attorney Larry Yellin.

Shayan’s mother Shahzad Mazroei could not hide her tears at a recent press conference. A source told the New York Daily News that she had flown back from Iran after learning of his murder. She has lost her son, a promising student of mechanical engineering at Saddleback College.

A coalition of organisations including the National Iranian American Council
, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Council on American Islamic Relations, Greater Los Angeles Area Chapter, Friends Committee on National Legislation, Iranian Alliances Across Borders, Muslim Public Affairs Council, and The Sikh Coalition, submitted a letter to the Department of Justice urging a federal hate crime investigation.

The letter read, “It is a tragedy that such a senseless act of violence has resulted in the loss of life of a young Iranian-American man. Reports that such violence was committed as a direct result of Mr. Mazroei’s Iranian heritage are a painful reminder that racism, bigotry, and extremism persist in our day and age”.

After the press conference on September 28, the  local Iranian-American community held a candlelight vigil outside the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

Before the murder, Tanber was on parole in relation to a 2004 murder. He struck a plea bargain after a mistrial declaration. In 2007, he plead guilty to dissuading a witness by force, street terrorism and assault with a deadly weapon. He received a 13-year prison sentence.

Had the conviction for the special murder conviction stuck he would face a life sentence without parole.

If convicted of Mazroei’s murder, Taber faces 76 years in prison. A sentence that increases to life if prosecutors add hate crime charges.

Others are using social media to spread awareness of the case with the hashtag #Justiceforshayan. A petition to Orange County’s District Attorney’s Office has gained over 5,000 signatures.

Taber faces arraignment on October 2.

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