Anti-Columbus Protest Planned At Columbus Circle

COLUMBUS CIRLCE, NY — Protesters will gather in front of a statue of Christopher Columbus Tuesday night in Columbus Circle to call for the removal of the statue and stand in solidarity with protesters facing legal punishment for destroying a Confederate statue in North Carolina.

Nearly 500 people have said they are "interested" in attending Tuesday night's rally, according to a Facebook event.

"We'll rally at the statue of Christopher Columbus, a genocidal pillager whose monuments belong in the dustbin of history. It is an insult to all oppressed peoples, and in particular the First Nations of the Western Hemisphere, that a monument to him continues to stand in New York City,"rally organizers wrote in a Facebook event page.

In addition to protesting Columbus the rally will show support for people facing criminal charges for toppling a civil war monument in Durham, North Carolina.

The protest is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m., according to organizers.

Earlier Tuesday morning a statue of Columbus inside Central Park was vandalized with spray paint. The words "hate will not be tolerated" were spray painted onto the base of the statue and Columbus' hands were painted red, the NYPD spokesman said. The words "#Somethingiscoming" were also painted onto the base of the statue, according to photos of the vandalism.

The statue is located within the park near the 65th Street Transverse and Center Drive.

Photo by Charley Lhasa via Flickr/Creative Commons