On Monday evening, a group of about 50 protesters called for the removal of the Christopher Columbus statue in Grant Park, which was covered in a plastic tarp and surrounded by a chain link fence.
The protesters ridiculed and nearly bumped up against a group of about two dozen police officers who stood on the outside of the fence in riot gear. After about an hour, demonstrators made the short walk to the intersection of Roosevelt Road and Columbus Drive and blocked traffic.
“It is time to remove this statue of white supremacy,” activist Ja’Mal Green said Monday while addressing reporters before the demonstration.
“This is not someone we should be honoring, if you want to tell our history, tell it in the museums, tell the real history in the schools, but don’t put up acts of white supremacy in our communities and act like we should be honoring them,” Green said.
“Change is hard, but at the end of the day the removal of this statue is the only demand; there is no gray area,” he said.
Green didn’t comment on violence directed at police Friday evening during a protest at the statue — violence which was highlighted Monday during a news conference held by Police Supt. David Brown — and instead pointed out other instances of police brutality.
“When has the CPD ever done a press conference that showed the video of one of their police officers brutalizing anyone?” Green asked.
