Christopher Columbus: Five facts about the Italian explorer
Despite having a U.S. federal holiday on the second Monday of every October, there's widespread controversy over honoring Christopher Columbus as a hero.
Protesters in Richmond, Va., Tuesday night reportedly pulled down a statue of Christopher Columbus, spray-painted it, set it on fire and threw it in a lake.
The vandalism followed a peaceful protest for indigenous people, according to WWBT-TV.
The statue was torn down using ropes around 9 p.m. in William Byrd Park and later thrown in nearby Fountain Lake.
The Christopher Columbus statue in Richmond's William Byrd Park. (Google )
PROTESTERS TOPPLE CONFEDERATE STATUE IN VIRGINIA CAPITAL
The same method was used by protesters to take down a statue of Confederate General Williams Carter Wickham a few miles away in Monroe Park on Saturday.
WWBT said on Tuesday night some of the vandals even attacked one of their photographers, grabbing him, threatening him with boards and telling him to leave.
The statue’s base was also spray-painted and someone left a cardboard sign on top of it which read “Columbus represents genocide.”
One of the vandals told WRIC-TV they spontaneously decided to remove the statue after protesters started chanting “Tear it down!”
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The statue is owned by the city.
It was not clear if police had arrived at the scene.
This is a developing story.
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