One man was injured while protesters were in Portsmouth taking down the Confederate soldier monument on the night of Wednesday, June 10, according to multiple reports.
While protesters were attacking the statue, the people present during the take-down were screaming "No Justice, No Peace," while the statue was being torn bit by bit. However, when the protesters succeeded in taking the statue down, it fell on top of Green, who was critically injured.
"He was convulsing on the ground—and he lost a great amount of blood. We ask everybody to pray for that man right now," the president said.
Medics arrived on scene and took Green to the Sentara Norfolk General Hospital on a stretcher on Wednesday night, and according to 13 News Now, he was put in a medically induced coma as doctors treated him on Thursday.
After Green was taken to the hospital, the police stepped in and secured the area with crime scene tape, according to 13 News Now. Following that, authorities told the rest of the protesters to leave the area.
"While we welcome peaceful demonstrations at the monument at Commercial place, we want everyone to understand that the size of the monument, it stands at 80 feet, does not lend itself to safe removal without the use of a truck mounted construction crane," the mayor wrote.
"Out of an abundance of caution, anyone who attempts to scale the monument will be removed in the interest of their own safety," the release reads.
The mayor also addressed the incident involving Green, saying that the city will be praying for the man's full recovery.
The mayor also asked for the public's cooperation to make sure that this incident doesn't occur again in other cities in the interest of people's safety, according to the release.