The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Columbus statue removed
Tempers flare at New Haven’s Wooster Square
NEW HAVEN — The Christopher Columbus statue that overlooked Chapel Street from Wooster Square Park for nearly 130 years stood on its perch for the last time Wednesday.
But while cheers met the statue’s removal, it didn’t come down without a fight.
After word got out that the city planned to remove the statue Wednesday morning, a group of several dozen people came out to defend it and had formed a crowd of 40 to 50 people by about 6 a.m., according to police Capt. Anthony Duff.
Protesters who favored the statue’s removal began trickling in around 8:30 a.m., and tensions between the two sides led to confrontation and several skirmishes.
Over the next couple hours, the crowd grew and transformed, with around 150 people at the park by 10 a.m., according to an estimate from Duff.
By about 10:30 a.m., the vast majority of people present at the park expressed support for the statue’s removal. Many held signs supportive of the Black Lives Matter movement and said the statue was a symbol of racism and genocide.
“Tear it down!” they yelled.
“A change is gonna come,” a woman with a megaphone sang.
Meanwhile, some of those at the park who said they are of Italian American heritage watched from the fence, angry at what was to unfold as a man in a hard hat prepared the statue for removal via crane.
Skirmishes erupt
After those defending the statue had gathered for at least two-and-a-half hours Wednesday, several antistatue protesters arrived.
They got caught up in ensuing altercations. A New Haven Independent video shows how the skirmishes unfolded.
In the video, a man can be seen holding a sign above his head and criticizing Columbus’ legacy.
Eden Almasude, a Wooster Square resident, walked by during the events, she said. She saw a group of statue supporters surround the sign holder, including one man who hit the antistatue protester’s sign with a cane, she said.
Almasude shared a clip of the incident with the Register.
The Independent’s video shows that a verbal argument took place between statue supporters, the sign holder and one other man who favored the removal of the statue.
The physical skirmish that ensued also was witnessed by a Register staffer on scene.
At the City Hall news conference, Police Chief Otoniel Reyes said there were no arrests made, although one man was detained.
There have been no decisions made on whether charges will be filed, Reyes said.
Mayor Justin Elicker said in a statement that it was “disappointing that some at the protest incited fighting. New Haven has a long history of lively dialogue, but violence has no place in our city. We face a very challenging moment in history. We must work as a community to listen, understand, and have respectful dialogue with each other. This moment, while challenging, is also an opportunity to bring people together.
The video of the skirmish prompted additional antistatue activists to head to the park.
One was a man who declined to give his full name.
Around 10 a.m., a reporter saw the man get pushed by a police officer as the man stood next to the statue with a group of its defenders. The man said he was being pushed by a statue supporter when the officer pushed him, too.
“The officer physically separated would-be combatants and no arrests were made,” Duff said Wednesday evening.
A neighborhood decision
The statue, erected in 1892, was iconic for much of the 40-acre neighborhood east of downtown, particularly Italian Americans who rally at the statue each Columbus Day, celebrating their heritage in the city.
But in recent years and days, Columbus, who sailed to the Caribbean in 1492, has become infamous for bringing imperialism, disease and racist violence to the New World, prompting calls to remove his image around the country.
In New Haven, Wilbur Cross High School junior Rhea McTiernan Huge circulated one petition asking for the statue’s removal, to which she attached her historical sources. That was signed by 667 residents. A second, similar petition got 2,041 signatures.
A group of Wooster Square neighborhood residents agreed to remove the statute earlier this month, with Mayor Justin Elicker praising the decision.
“The Christopher Columbus statue for many Italians is a celebration of Italian heritage. But the statue of Christopher Columbus also represents a time of colonialism and atrocities committed. It is the right decision to remove the statue,” Elicker said at the time. “After the statue is removed, I believe it is important that we, as a community, have a conversation about how to best honor the heritage of so many Italians who have made New Haven their home.”