Protesters tear down statue of Christopher Columbus in Baltimore

A group of protesters in Baltimore tore down a statue of Christopher Columbus on Saturday then threw it into the city’s Inner Harbor, The Baltimore Sun Reports.

Video shows protesters tearing down the statue near Baltimore’s Little Italy neighborhood as Fourth of July fireworks explode in the distance. The monument was torn down using rope and then protesters rolled it into the water.

The Sun reports the statue was owned by the city and dedicated in 1984.

Baltimore just tore down the Columbus statue ✊✊✊✊✊ #blacklivesmatter pic.twitter.com/uX5ty8oI3f

— spencer compton (@spencercompton) July 5, 2020

Protesters just took down the Christopher Columbus statue in Baltimore’s Little Italy. pic.twitter.com/ViPk5eKOtz

— Louis Krauss (@louiskraussnews) July 5, 2020

It marks just the latest statue toppled during demonstrations in recent weeks as protests against racism and police brutality increasingly feature calls to remove Confederate monuments as well as statues of historical figures who supported slavery or racist policies.

Columbus has become a popular target over his treatment of indigenous peoples. 

President Trump has frequently criticized the removal of statues, and the latest incident comes after he signed an executive order to create a task force to create a park full of monuments to historical figures. Trump has suggested jail time for those who tear down statues, and his executive order on Friday night strongly condemned such actions. 

“To destroy a monument is to desecrate our common inheritance. In recent weeks, in the midst of protests across America, many monuments have been vandalized or destroyed. Some local governments have responded by taking their monuments down,” Trump’s order reads. “These statues are not ours alone, to be discarded at the whim of those inflamed by fashionable political passions; they belong to generations that have come before us and to generations yet unborn.”