George Floyd hologram covers statue of Robert E. Lee in Richmond

(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/Richmond Times-Dispatch)

last updated 29 July 2020

A hologram of George Floyd made its debut Tuesday night in Richmond, Virginia, with the image projected onto a statue of Robert E. Lee.

Floyd, an unarmed Black man, died in late May, after a white Minneapolis police officer placed his knee on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes during an arrest. Floyd's death sparked protests against racism and police brutality around the world, and moved several cities to take down their statues and monuments to Confederate leaders.

The hologram, described as "a myriad of fireflies that form into a beautiful image of George Floyd," is part of a project created by change.org and the George Floyd Foundation. Organizers said the hologram will appear in five different states that were visited in 1961 by the Freedom Riders, with the image going over Confederate statues as a "symbolic call to continue the fight for racial justice."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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