Memphis City Council Votes to Remove Confederate Statue

The Memphis City Council has voted to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest from a public park.

Local news outlets report that council members voted 11-1 Tuesday to remove the statue of the rebel general, slave trader and early Ku Klux Klan member from Health Sciences Park.

Council member William Boyd cast the only "no" vote, while Edmund Ford Jr. was present but not voting.

The vote follows the council's July 7 approval of a resolution to move the bodies of Forrest and his wife from the park back to their original Memphis burial plot.

Although the vote has concluded, officials say the statue's future is uncertain. The city may need approval from the Tennessee Historical Commission, which next meets in October, to remove the statue.