A statue of Christopher Columbus, torn down by rioters in 2020, has found a new home on the White House campus.
The statue was originally perched in Baltimore's neighborhood of Little Italy. But during the 2020 George Floyd riots, the statue was torn down and thrown into the Inner Harbor. The Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations (COPOMIAO) gifted a replica of the statue to the White House, which the Trump Administration erected on Sunday outside the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
"Columbus statues have long stood as symbols of pride and cultural identity for more than 18 million Americans of Italian descent," COPOMIAO President Basil M. Russo said in a press release on Sunday. "For over a century, Columbus's legacy helped Italian immigrants navigate prejudice and hardship, serving as a source of unity and belonging as they built new lives in this country.
"Columbus Day itself emerged in the aftermath of the 1891 New Orleans lynching, when 11 Italian immigrants were killed by a mob of thousands, an event that prompted a national effort to promote the acceptance and assimilation of Italian Americans. This history remains central to why these monuments matter."
The statue was dedicated in October 1984 by President Ronald Reagan.
On July 4, 2020, that statue was dumped into Baltimore’s Inner Harbor by protesters whom Trump called "anti-American rioters" in his letter.
City officials refused to reinstall the rebuilt statue, which prompted Russo to correspond with the president. The statue now sits on the north side of the Eisenhower Executive Office building. A White House staffer provided photos of the statue to NTD News.
"Outrageously, in recent years, Christopher Columbus has been a prime target of a vicious and merciless campaign to erase our history, slander our heroes, and attack our heritage," he wrote. "Before our very eyes, left-wing radicals toppled his statues, vandalized his monuments, tarnished his character, and sought to exile him from our public spaces.
"Under my leadership, those days are finally over—and our Nation will now abide by a simple truth: Christopher Columbus was a true American hero, and every citizen is eternally indebted to his relentless determination."