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Christopher Columbus Statues Removed From 2 Chicago Parks
Crews removed statues of the explorer from Grant Park and Arrigo Park early on Friday.
transcript
Chicago Takes Down 2 Columbus Statues Overnight
Crews removed Christopher Columbus statues from two Chicago parks early Friday. Mayor Lori Lightfoot ordered their temporary removal in response to the ongoing protests.
[cheering]
Statues of Christopher Columbus were taken down in two Chicago parks early on Friday, making the city the latest to remove a monument to the Italian explorer blamed for the genocide and exploitation of Indigenous people.
In Grant Park, a crew using a large crane lifted the statue from its pedestal, removing a symbol that had been the scene of violent clashes between protesters and the police last week. A crowd cheered and passing cars honked as the statue came down at about 3 a.m., The Associated Press reported, and the removal was shown live on local television.
A Columbus statue was also removed in Arrigo Park in Little Italy, the mayor’s office said in a statement.
“This statue coming down is because of the effort of Black and Indigenous activists who know the true history of Columbus and what he represents,” one resident, Stefan Cuevas-Caizaguano, told The Chicago Sun-Times while watching the removal in Grant Park.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in a statement that the statues were removed, temporarily, “in response to demonstrations that became unsafe for both protesters and police, as well as efforts by individuals to independently pull the Grant Park statue down in an extremely dangerous manner.”
“In addition, our public safety resources must be concentrated where they are most needed throughout the city, and particularly in our South and West Side communities,” the statement said.
In the coming days, it said, the mayor and city officials would announce a process to assess other monuments, memorials and murals across Chicago and “develop a framework for creating a public dialogue to determine how we elevate our city’s history and diversity. “
The mayor’s decision was criticized by some in the city. The Fraternal Order of Police said that the mayor was “bowing down to the lawlessness of these anarchists.” Its president, John Catanzara, Jr., wrote a letter last week asking President Donald Trump for federal help to deal with the city’s crime.
Last Friday, a group of protesters clashed with police officers at the Christopher Columbus statue in Grant Park, and some tried to tear down the statue. Some officers were hurt during the clashes and treated at the scene or transported to the hospital, CBS reported.
Four protesters were also hurt in the confrontation, and the police said 14 people were arrested, it reported.
Statues of Columbus have also been taken down in other American cities, including Boston, Richmond, Va., and St. Paul, Minn., where a group of protesters tied ropes around the statue’s neck and yanked it from its pedestal outside of the State Capitol last month, about 10 miles from where a Minneapolis police officer pinned his knee on George Floyd’s neck. Mr. Floyd’s death in May set off weeks of worldwide protests about racial injustice and violent policing, as well as a reckoning over statues and symbols.
Native Americans and others have long called for statues of Columbus to be removed, and also to replace Columbus Day, which is marked on the second Monday in October, with Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Protesters have said that Columbus’s arrival in the New World led to the genocide and exploitation of Indigenous populations in the Americas.
In dozens of cities, statues or monuments portraying Confederates and other historic figures have been marked with graffiti and challenged with petitions and protests. In some cities, officials have made plans to remove contested statues. In others, protesters have toppled them. In Roanoke, Va., this week The A.P. reported that a monument to Robert E. Lee that the city had planned to remove was found toppled and broken on the ground.
At Virginia’s Capitol in Richmond, The Washington Post reported, around the same time the Columbus statues were being removed in Chicago, workers overnight carted away a statue of Lee and busts of seven other Confederates.
With camouflage-clad federal agents already sweeping through the streets of Portland, President Trump has said he plans to deploy federal law enforcement to Chicago and other major cities — all controlled by Democrats. Mayor Lightfoot’s office said on Wednesday, after a “brief and straightforward” conversation with the president, that those forces will be “investigatory” and coordinated through the United States Attorney’s office.
“The mayor has made clear that if there is any deviation from what has been announced, we will pursue all available legal options to protect Chicagoans,” the statement said.
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