Vandals posted a video to YouTube showing them taking a sledgehammer to a Christopher Columbus monument in Baltimore.
Governor Hogan signed off on the removal of a statue of Roger Taney from the Statehouse grounds, a monument to man who served at the highest levels of Maryland State and Federal governments before being confirmed as the Supreme Court's 5th Chief Justice. A similar statue was also removed in Baltimore as well. Now, a 225-year-old Christopher Columbus monument -- first erected in 1792 -- has been destroyed with a sledgehammer under the cover of darkness. The Columbus obelisk near Herring Run Park is the oldest monument to Christopher Columbus in the United States of America. A video was published on YouTube showing and glorifying the vandalism. A narrator who identifies himself only as "Ty" explains to viewers why the masked figure decided to take a sledgehammer to the monument.Columbus initiated a centuries-old wave of terrorism, murder, genocide, rape, slavery, ecological degradation and capitalist exploitation of labor in the Americas. That Columbian wave of destruction continues on the backs of Indigenous, African-American and brown people," the narrator explains.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFSW0id36FA
While the masked man in the video struck the monument with his sledgehammer, another person is shown in-frame holding a sign that reads, "racism, tear it down." Another sign was taped to the monument, reading, "the future is racial and economic justice," however it fell during the act of vandalism.
Elsewhere in the country, other vandals have tried to deface or destroy non-Confederate monuments. In New Orleans, a statue of French war hero Joan of Arc was defaced with the spray painted demand to "tear it down." In Los Angeles, a statue memorializing Catholic Saint Junipero Serra was defaced with red paint with the word "MURDER" spray painted onto it as well.
Baltimore Police are still actively searching for "Ty" and the other perpetrators behind the Columbus monument vandalism and warning the public to refrain from destroying private and public property.
"We want to inform people it is a crime to destroy property. And if the person is identified who is responsible for this, they will be prosecuted,” Baltimore Police spokesman T.J. Smith explained.
Anyone who knows anything about this act of vandalism and damage to the Columbus obelisk is encouraged to call Baltimore Police detectives at 410-396-2444.
