Minnesota Protesters Pull Down Columbus Statue At Capitol

ST. PAUL (AP) -- Protesters in Minnesota have pulled down a statue of Christopher Columbus outside the state Capitol amid continuing anger over the death of George Floyd.

The protesters threw a rope around the 10-foot bronze statue Wednesday afternoon and pulled it off its stone pedestal.

The protesters, including Dakota and Ojibwe Indians, said they consider Columbus a symbol of genocide against Native Americans. They said they had tried many times to remove it through the political process, but without success.

State Patrol trooper who provide security in the Capitol complex stood by at a distance but did not try to stop the protesters, who celebrated afterward with Native American singing and drumming.