BOSTON—The City of Boston removed the statue of Christopher Columbus from North End Park on Thursday, June 11 after protesters destroyed and beheaded it on Wednesday morning. The statue of Christopher Columbus was also torn down in Richmond, Virginia, and outside Minnesota state capitol. Authorities in Boston are still investigating the case.
Christopher Columbus Park was built in the late 1960s and the statue of Christopher Columbus has been repeatedly vandalized in the past. The head of the statue was knocked off in 2006, and in 2015, it was spray-painted with the words “Black Lives Matter.”
“This particular statue has been subject to repeated vandalism here in Boston and given the conversations that we’re certainly having right now in our city of Boston and throughout the country. We’re also going to take time to assess the historic meaning of this action,” said Boston Mayor Marty Walsh.
“Our Native organizations here are ready, willing, and able to have conversations. In fact, our IndigenousPeoplesDayMA campaign has been asking his (Mayor Marty Walsh) office for YEARS to meet with us. There can be no racial justice if Indigenous people are erased and ignored,” said Mahtowin Munro, a spokeswoman of United American Indians of New England via Facebook. She stressed that monuments represent white supremacy and should come down.
“Vandalism to private or public property is a completely wrong way to go about making a case for change, and that holds true on the vandalism that took place overnight at Columbus Park,” tweeted Aaron Michlewitz, a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. “The statue was placed later on as a celebration of Italian heritage and was paid for by the families that surround the base of the statue. Some of those families were original North End immigrant families and their memory to this community will not be removed.”
The Italian American Alliance is organizing a march at Christopher Columbus Park on Sunday, June 14, at 2 p.m. to demand restoration and return of the statue.
