18 police officers injured in Chicago protest

Protesters surrounded the Christopher Columbus statue in Grant Park Friday night, spray-painted it, and tried to pull it down, Report says, citing RIA Novoati.

A large group gathered about 4:20 p.m. at Buckingham Fountain, 301 S. Columbus Dr., for a protest and moved south into Grant Park, Chicago police said.

The group approached the Christopher Columbus statue, and some “used the protest to attack officers with fireworks, rocks, frozen bottles, and other objects,” police said.

Images shared on Twitter showed protesters pulling on ropes attached to the statue.

Police had cleared protesters from the area around the statue by 8:15 p.m.

At least 12 people were arrested, while 18 officers injured, with some being treated at the scene and others transported to hospitals.

Amika Tendaji, an organizer for the protest, described it as a solidarity march for indigenous people and Black people. Artists tagged the statue with slogans, including “Decolonize Chicago” and “Black Lives Matter.”

Statues of Columbus, like those of other historical figures, such as Confederate soldiers, have come under assault this year as protests about racism grew in the wake of the death of George Floyd, killed by Minneapolis police on Memorial Day.

Columbus’s role in history has become controversial. Long revered by Italian Americans, he also is criticized for his treatment of the indigenous people he found when he arrived on the North American continent.