Chicago removes Christopher Columbus statues from parks after protests

CHICAGO — City officials temporarily took down two statues of Christopher Columbus early Friday morning, a week after protesters and police clashed at one of the monuments in a violent encounter that left dozens injured.

One statue was removed from the city's Grant Park around 3 a.m., and the other was removed from Arrigo Park in the Little Italy neighborhood around 5:30 a.m.

The statues were temporarily removed "until further notice," the office of Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in a statement.

The statues were taken down in an effort to protect public safety and keep public safety resources "concentrated where they are most needed throughout the city, and particularly in our South and West Side communities," the office said.

Last Friday, hundreds of protesters attempting to topple the statue in Grant Park faced off with dozens of Chicago police. Twelve people were arrested after some protesters began throwing objects at officers, who hit protesters with their batons.

At least 49 officers were injured, police said, along with many protesters. At least one protester – 18-year-old Miracle Boyd – had her teeth knocked out when an officer punched her, according to video of the assault shared by GoodKids MadCity, an anti-gun violence group.

Chi-Nations Youth Council, an inter-tribal Native youth organization, said in a statement late Thursday that it was "proud to see the removal of a statue that represents white supremacy, as a win toward the goal of decolonization."

Reports that Lightfoot had ordered the statues taken down began to circulate Thursday evening, when hundreds of protesters gathered for hours outside Lightfoot's home, chanting and dancing, to condemn the deployment of additional federal agents to Chicago.

When news of the removal order reached the protest, hundreds broke into applause.

Alderman Daniel La Spata, who is Italian American and has advocated for taking down the statues, cheered the decision.

"To quote Queen Isabella, 'Bye Columbus!'" he wrote on Twitter.

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Sergio Giangrande, president of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans, said in a statement Friday that his community was "hurt."

"We are not okay with these statues being taken down, but we stand by the City's decision to do so in the interest of public safety," Giangrande said. "Mayor Lightfoot has told us that this is not over. We look forward to being able to have the conversation about something that means so much to Italian Americans at a time free of violence."

The mayor's office said the city will be announcing a formal process to assess each of the monuments, memorials and murals across Chicago’s communities.

"As the Mayor has stated previously, this is not about a single statue or mural, but how we create a platform to channel our city’s dynamic civic energy to collaboratively, purposefully and peacefully reflect our values as Chicagoans and uplift the stories of all of our diverse city’s residents, particularly when it comes to the permanent memorialization of our shared heritage," the statement said.

Chi-Nations Youth Council said that it would also like to see the removal of the Chicago Blackhawks logo as well as "all race-based sports logos removed from public spaces."

In recent years, many groups nationwide have called for the removal of monuments to Christopher Columbus, who many say should be remembered as a violent colonizer responsible for countless deaths of indigenous Americans.

A statue of Columbus was removed from outside the city hall of Columbus, Ohio, earlier this month, after the mayor called for its removal. In Baltimore, Maryland, protesters on the Fourth of July pulled down a statue of Columbus and threw it into the city's Inner Harbor.

Contributing: The Associated Press

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Chicago Christopher Columbus statues taken down after protests