Some McKinley statues in other states have already be taken down.
At some point in the early hours of Wednesday 25 November, the statue of Former President William McKinley in McKinley Park was vandalized in an attempt to bring it down. Police arrived at the park to find a rope wrapped around the statue and signs that a vehicle was used to try to and topple it. The base of the 115-year old statue had also been spray-painted with graffiti and the rope had been left behind.
A statue at McKinley Park was vandalized on the city’s Southwest Side. https://t.co/DUqorgjyie
— WGN Morning News (@WGNMorningNews) November 25, 2020
The bronze statue went up in McKinley Park back in 1905, just four years after his assassination at the Panama-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. It was created using the bronze from a melted statue of Christopher Columbus that once stood in Grant Park.
McKinley’s expansionist policies are now widely regarded as racist and he is criticized for advancing white supremacy and pushing indigenous people out of their land in both western United States and in Hawaii. Protesters in several places including Buffalo, New York, and Honolulu targeted McKinley statues this year denouncing him as a racist white supremacist and last year some cities like Arcata chose to remove controversial McKinley statues.
Someone tried to take down the statue of President William McKinley @ McKinley Park in the 3700 block of Archer on the SW side. CPD says someone tied a rope around it, and tried to pull it down with a car. There was also graffiti. No arrests. pic.twitter.com/jt0r6Sqz8g
— newsburrow (@newsburrow) November 25, 2020