RICHMOND, VA – A group of vandals decided to take it upon themselves to forcibly remove a statue of Christopher Columbus in Richmond on June 9th, thereafter defacing it and tossing it into a lake. This is a prime example of affording an inch, and the mob taking a mile.
BREAKING: A statue of Christopher Columbus in Byrd Park has been removed by protesters and dragged into the lake. This is a developing story. pic.twitter.com/yFjiUdPTMk
— WTVR CBS 6 Richmond (@CBS6) June 10, 2020
Many are well aware of the numerous statues of historical figures from the Confederate-era that wound up being removed in 2017, typically by way of locality votes and legislation. But what took place on the evening of June 9th was different, for many reasons.
The Christopher Columbus statue, which was held at the William Byrd Park, was torn down via ropes by a group of vandals at approximately 9:00 p.m. that evening. After having already been spray painted and torn down, the group then proceeded to discard the statue within Fountain Lake.
BREAKING NEWS: The Christopher Columbus statue has been torn down and thrown in the lake by protesters in downtown Richmond. https://t.co/QrPl53pgF6
— NBC12 WWBT Richmond (@NBC12) June 10, 2020
The first issue with the statue removal was that is was not legally sanctioned – at all. The statue is owned by the city itself, yet an unruly mob decided that chanting “tear it down” and thus proceeding to do such is perfectly fine because the statue is offensive to some.
The second most concerning issue in this illegal act, is that mainstream media outlets are calling the vandals “protesters.”
They’re not protesters if they’re committing crimes. They’re criminals.
Here’s a quote from The Hill describing the criminal act:
“Statues of Christopher Columbus were targeted by protesters.”
Here’s one by ABC affiliate 6 Action News:
“A statue of Christopher Columbus in Richmond was torn down by protesters, set on fire and then thrown into a lake.”
And yet another ABC affiliate, 13 WBKO, citing the vandals as “protesters”:
“The Christopher Columbus statue was torn down by protesters in downtown Richmond.”
Whether people like the statue or not, it is still a criminal act for someone or a group of people to tear it down and discard it into a lake. The ones responsible for said act were not protesters during those moments to destroy what wasn’t theirs – they were miscreants.
Of course, there are those that would justify the act of destruction by the virtue of saying that “Christopher Columbus was an evil person.” While that may be true, he was also a figure from the 15th century. The entire world in general wasn’t exactly full of the nicest people during that period.
The 15th century saw the likes of the Jingnan rebellion in China, the Russo-Kazan Wars between Muscovite Russia and the Khanate from Kazan, there were the numerous wars between Morocco and Portugal that started during the 15th century; acts related to territorial claiming, war, and conquest were not a European exclusive during the century.
Needless to say, it has been a long time since Columbus “sailed the ocean blue” in 1492 and the world has moved on collectively from exploits that were a then-worldwide normal occurrence.
Virginia wasn’t the only location to have a Christopher Columbus statue vandalized. One statue of the 15th century figure was beheaded in Boston, Massachusetts as well.
Christopher Columbus statues beheaded in Boston, and thrown in a lake in Richmond. https://t.co/X0gABf8OTK
— NBC News (@NBCNews) June 10, 2020
As with the Virginia statue vandalized and discarded, the sentiment from the vandals was the same regarding the Boston statue, with it being some kind of symbol of racism.
Furthermore, one Twitter account even posted a picture of the now decapitated statue online, stating the following one day before the vandalism:
“It would be a shame if the statue of Columbus fell into Boston Harbor… a real shame…”
It would be a shame if the statue of Columbus fell into Boston Harbor… a real shame… pic.twitter.com/0v38nHCssb
— 🦧 (@unhingedwomen) June 8, 2020
Sadly, social media giants are allowing the likes of rallying coordinated acts of destruction to take place on their platforms.
Neither the Richmond Police Department nor the Boston Police have made any mention of the perpetrated crimes of vandalism.
Then again, why would they? If either department were to dare mention seeking out the criminals responsible for the destruction, they’d likely be maligned in the media even more than they already are.
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