2 statues of Columbus taken down in Chicago
Two statues of Christopher Columbus that stood in Chicago parks were taken down early Friday at the direction of Mayor Lori Lightfoot, a week after protesters trying to topple one of the monuments to the Italian explorer clashed with police.
Crews used a large crane to remove the statue in down- town Chicago’s Grant Park from its pedestal. A small crowd cheered and passing cars honked as the statue came down about 3 a.m. The second statue was removed about 5:30 a.m. from Arrigo Park in Chicago’s Little Italy neighborhood.
In a st atement issued after the statues were taken down, the Democratic mayor’s office said they were being “temporarily removed ... until further notice.” It said the removals were “in response to demonstrations that became unsafe for both protesters and police, as well as efforts by individ- uals to independently pull the Grant Park statue down in an extremely dangerous manner.”
“This step is about an effort to protect public safety and to preserve a safe space for an inclusive and demo- cratic public dialogue about our city’s symbols,” the mayor’s office said in the statement.
The statues’ removal came after hundreds of protesters gathered Thursday night near Lightfoot’s home to call for defunding the Chicago Police Department. The crowd cheered when an activist used a megaphone to inform them that Light- foot would be removing the Grant Park statue.
Pla n s to remove the Grant Park statue were first reported Thursday night by the Chicago Tribune and the removal followed hours of vocal confrontations between opponents and supporters of the statue. On July 17, protesters had clashed with police, who used batons to beat peo- ple and made arrests after they say protesters targeted them with fireworks, rocks and other items.
Both the Grant Park and Arrigo Park statues were vandalized last month.
The removals come amid a plan by President Donald Trump to dispatch federal law enforcement agents to the city to respond to gun violence, prompting worries that the surge will inhibit residents’ ability to hold demon- strations.