When the Virginia Senate began honoring Robert E. Lee, the Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax stepped off his dais.

RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia's Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax stepped off the dais on Friday to protest the Virginia Senate honoring Robert E. Lee.

Fairfax tweeted that his great-great-great grandfather Simon Fairfax was a slave in Virginia, and he plans to think of him and the June 5, 1798 manumission document that freed him.

The Lieutenant Governor is the presiding officer of the Senate.