Defaced Christopher Columbus, Ponce De León Statues Cleaned In Miami
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – A cleaning crew has removed the spray paint from the statues of Christopher Columbus and Ponce De León at Bayfront Park in downtown Miami.
Last week, the Miami Police Department arrested a group of protesters seen on camera vandalizing the statues.
The hands and face of Columbus were spray painted red.
On the plaque in red paint, a hammer and sickle, black power fists, "BLM," for Black Lives Matter, and "George Floyd."
The monuments in Miami are among several to be defaced amid nationwide protests over Floyd's death, police brutality and racial inequality.
Christopher Columbus was one of the first Europeans in the New World, and is criticized for his violent treatment and killing of Native Americans.
There is a movement across the U.S. to remove statues of slave owners and colonizers, and Confederate symbols.
