Ohio officials remove Columbus statue from outside Columbus City Hall

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Officials in Columbus removed a statue of Christopher Columbus early Wednesday morning from outside city hall, according to WBNS-TV.

On June 18, Mayor Andrew Ginther ordered the removal of the statue, saying it didn’t represent the city’s values. On Wednesday morning, crews took about three hours to take the statue down, according to WBNS-TV.

The statue, which sat on the Broad Street side of city hall, had been a gift from the people of Genoa, Italy in 1955.

Ginther said he's asked the Columbus Art Commission to replace the statue through a community-driven process focused on diversity and including comment from the public, WBNS-TV reported.

The decision to move the statue came amid a national reckoning with racism sparked by police violence and the May 25 killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. Demonstrators protesting racial injustice and police brutality have pulled down statues and memorials connected to colonization and slavery in cities nationwide.

The Cox Media Group National Content Desk contributed to this report.

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