Mayors around the country continue to bend their knees to the Leftist mobs rioting in their cities.
In the dead of night Chicago Mayor, Lori Lightfoot, had a Christopher Columbus statue removed from a Chicago park after Leftists rioted to have it taken down.
From Breitbart News:
Days after 19 Chicago police officers were hospitalized after defending a statue of Christopher Columbus in Grant Park, Democrat Mayor Lori Lightfoot made the unilateral decision to topple it herself in the middle of the night. The Chicago Sun-Times reports:
The Christopher Columbus statue in Grant Park was removed hours after Mayor Lori Lightfoot called for its removal.
Two cranes pulled their way up to the statue just before 2 a.m. Friday, after hours of vocal confrontations between protestors and supporters of the statue, including John Catanzara, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7.
Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd) told the Chicago Sun-Times late Thursday that Lightfoot made “a unilateral decision” to take down the statues. Hopkins said the intention was to have them removed Thursday night.
“At this hour, there is discussion about postponing the removal, but the mayor has not indicated any reversal of her decision,” he said.
When the news broke, over a thousand protesters who were rallying near Lightfoot’s Logan Square home rejoiced. Soon after, an organizer led the crowd in a celebratory chant.
“Thank you for the statue, now defund CPD,” the crowd bellowed.”
And more fromNBC5 Chicago:
Chicago's two Christopher Columbus statues were taken down early Friday morning, nearly one week after protests erupted in the city.
Crews were seen taking down the statues in Grant Park and the city's Little Italy neighborhood during the overnight hours. By 6 a.m., only the pedestal remained in Grant Park, where the statue stood since 1933 after being dedicated during Chicago's second World Fair.
"The city of Chicago—at Mayor Lightfoot’s direction—has temporarily removed the Christopher Columbus statues in Grant Park and Arrigo Park until further notice," the mayor's office said in a statement. "This action was taken after consultation with various stakeholders. It comes 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. This step is about an effort to protect public safety and to preserve a safe space for an inclusive and democratic public dialogue about our city's symbols. 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."
Reports first surfaced on social media Thursday indicating the statue at Grant Park could be taken down as soon as late Thursday night.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot Issues Statement After Violent Clashes Between Police, Demonstrators
Protesters across the county have called for the removal of statues of Columbus, saying that the Italian explorer is responsible for the genocide and exploitation of native peoples in the Americas.
Still, some Italian-Americans in Chicago said they did not support the move.
"Columbus is a symbol of hope who we've celebrated for years and maybe we all forgot why we celebrated Christopher Columbus," Sergio Giangrande, president of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian American said. "To take someone who's a symbol of hope for us? We are not OK with that."
Giangrande added, however, that the group understands the safety concerns but hoped for a compromise.
"I can guarantee you that Italian Americans are not happy about this," he said.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Monday that she would announce a process in which the city will take inventory of the various monuments, paintings "and other things that memorialize" Chicago's past and history.
"In time, our team will determine there are no monuments to African Americans in this city," Lightfoot said. "There are no monuments to women. There are no monuments that reflect the contributions of people in the city of Chicago who contributed to the greatness of this city."
Even if we take Lightfoot's mission at face value, one question remains.
Why does exploring ways to honor more Chicagoans mean that tributes to other people must be taken down?
Well, I'm sure she has no answer to that question.
Although I wrote above that mayors are "bending their knees" to rioters, the truth is they are one with the movement creating them.
The pretenses these mayors give of "hearing" these people out is just a front for the fact that they hold the exact sames values, beliefs, and radical demands.
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