A statue of Christopher Columbus was vandalized in Chicago’s Little Italy neighborhood Monday, the latest example of the anti-monument furor on display among left-wing activists.
CBS Chicago reports that red paint was splattered on the statue in Arrigo Park with the words “mass murderer” and “decolonise” [sic] spray painted on the sidewalk next to it.
The local outlet reports that it is the second act of vandalism in just a few days. On Saturday the statue was vandalized by three men on bikes just after midnight. Thirty-year-old Kyle Miskell has been charged with felony counts of criminal damage to government property, and criminal defacement of property related to that incident, according to CBS Chicago.
The incidents come amid a broader wave of anti-monument fervor among the left since the violence in August between left and right-wing protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia. Columbus and other key figures in America’s history have been criticized as imperialists and colonialists. Polls have shown little support across the country for removing statues of figures such as Columbus and Thomas Jefferson.
In New York, Mayor Bill de Blasio ordered a 90-day review of “symbols of hate” in August and declined to rule out the Columbus monument in Columbus Circle after fellow Democrats suggested it should be looked at. De Blasio has come under fire for his agnosticism on Columbus from the strong Italian-American community in the Big Apple.
There is also a nationwide movement from left-wing activists to rename Columbus Day “Indigenous Peoples Day,” which has caught on in left-wing hubs such as Los Angeles, where on Monday a statue of Columbus was fenced off and covered with a white sheet. Other statues in the city have also been defaced.
Adam Shaw is a Breitbart News politics reporter based in New York. Follow Adam on Twitter: @AdamShawNY