Chicago Removes Columbus Statues; Agents Blocked: Protest Wrap
Chicago Removes Columbus Statues; Agents Blocked: Protest Wrap
(Bloomberg) -- Chicago took down two Christopher Columbus statues, after opponents of the monuments had clashed with supporters and police. Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s office said Friday the statues were temporarily removed because the demonstrations had become unsafe for protesters and officers. Chicago will assess other monuments, memorials and murals as well. And the city’s park district is considering renaming a park honoring Stephen Douglas, the Abraham Lincoln rival who owned slaves under his wife’s name.
Workers wielding power tools and huge rolls of bubble wrap carted a life-size statue of Robert E. Lee and busts of seven of his Confederate colleagues out of the Virginia Capitol late Thursday night and early Friday morning, the Washington Post reported.
A judge blocked federal agents for the next two weeks from arresting, threatening or using physical force against journalists and legal observers at Black Lives Matter protests in Portland without a reason. As clashes in the city continue, the United Nations human rights office called on the U.S. government to limit its use of force against peaceful protesters and journalists, the Washington Post reported. The U.S. attorney for Oregon announced that 18 people have been arrested and are facing federal charges for their roles in the recent protests at the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse in Portland.
More federal agents have been dispatched to Seattle to protect federal property amid lingering unrest in that city, following the shutdown earlier this month of a protest zone where demonstrators camped out for weeks during George Floyd protests, the Associated Press reported. The agents, with the special response team of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency, will not confront demonstrators as in Portland, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan said she was told. Brian Moran, the U.S. attorney for the western district of Washington, issued a statement asking community leaders to “not let the violence that has marred the Portland protests damage peaceful movements here for a more just society.”
The U.S. Justice Department is probing its agents’ response to protests and unrest in Portland. President Donald Trump has said he sent the officers to help control rising crime. Several mayors have said they would challenge any deployment. The president’s “law and order” moves are seen by his opponents as a way of appealing to his conservative base ahead of the 2020 election.
Lightfoot was among 27 U.S. mayors who published an opinion piece in the Washington Post, arguing that a key way to address systemic racism is more federal funding for housing. “We must dismantle the systems that keep disparities locked in place,” they wrote. “Our nation’s housing system -- and the programs and policies that perpetuate racial disparities in housing -- is the best place to start.”
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