Posted on August 20, 2021

Judge Rules Philadelphia Can’t Remove a Christopher Columbus Statue

Associated Press, August 18, 2021

A statue of Christopher Columbus can remain in South Philadelphia, a judge ruled, reversing the city’s decision to remove it after the explorer became a focus of protesters amid nationwide demonstrations against racial injustice after the police killing of George Floyd.

Last year’s decision to remove the now-boarded-up statue from Marconi Plaza was unsupported by law and based on insufficient evidence, Common Pleas Court Judge Paula Patrick said.

“It is baffling to this court as to how the city of Philadelphia wants to remove the statue without any legal basis. The city’s entire argument and case is devoid of any legal foundation,” Patrick wrote.

The ruling Tuesday overturns a decision in September by a city licensing board that upheld a July 2020 decision by the city historical commission to remove the 144-year-old statue. {snip}

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In Philadelphia, a city with a deep Italian heritage, supporters say they consider Columbus an emblem of that heritage. Mayor Jim Kenney said Columbus was venerated for centuries as an explorer but had a “much more infamous” history, enslaving Indigenous people {snip}

After the June 2020 unrest, Kenney characterized removing the statue as a matter of public safety. Patrick, however, wrote that the city had failed to provide evidence that the statue’s removal was necessary to protect the public, calling the confrontations “isolated civil unrest.”

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