Others lobbied for a monument to African-Americans enlisted in the Confederate military.

Despite efforts to keep the meeting civil, tensions rose throughout the night as speakers decried or defended the monuments and what they believe they stand for.

George Knight said the monuments represent “white supremacy” and questioned why Richmond continued to house “participation trophies” for the Confederacy.

“You lost, get over it already!” he shouted.

A mixture of applause and boos drowned him out.

“Down with white supremacy!” he said before leaving the mic to return to his seat.

Kimball chastised him.

“Sir, you know, we really don’t need that,” he said. “I hope you all did hear what I said at the beginning of this. We don’t need inciting people. We need conversation.”

The following speaker, Travis Toombs, said Monument Avenue was a Confederate memorial and that if anyone wants to build more monuments, they could do it elsewhere.

“There’s an entire rest of the city to add statutes to whatever you so choose to,” said Toombs, a Petersburg resident.