Three years after the NYPD beefed-up its presence around statues of problematic historical figures in New York City in reponse to social justice protests, a Christopher Columbus statue in Central Park has been vandalized — the word ‘Murderer’ spray-painted in blood red on the base.
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Investigators tell Upper East Site it was just after 10:30 pm Sunday night, when the two suspects approached the statue located at the Literary Walk, near 65th Street and East Drive inside Central Park.
Police say the duo used cans of spray-paint to also write the words ‘Land Back’ in red on three sides of the base of the 129-year-old bronze Christopher Columbus statue, which is now surrounded by barricades.
Although many of us were taught in school that the famed Italian explorer was a hero who discovered the ‘New World,’ Christopher Columbus actually discovered the indigenous people already living in the Americas, whom he enslaved and murdered.
Five years ago, the same Columbus statue in Central Park was targeted by vandals who covered his hands with red paint and on the base wrote the phrase “Hate will not be tolerated.”
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Last spring, the NYPD quietly ended its around-the-clock protection of the controversial monuments, instead using surveillance cameras to monitor them from a nearby police precinct — which, if video exists, would explain how investigators know the exact time and number of suspects involved in Sunday’s incident.
The NYPD says its Citywide Vandals Task force is now on the case and their investigation is ongoing.
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