Columbus statue, Black Lives Matter mural vandalized in Pittsburgh
A Christopher Columbus statue in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood and a Black Lives Matter mural in Downtown Pittsburgh were both recently vandalized.
It was at least the second time in the last two months that vandals hit the Columbus statue in Schenley Park, the Trib’s news partner, WPXI-TV, reported.
Words including “no more racist,” “BLM” and “abolition now” were spray-painted in red on the statue Monday night, the station reported.
Some have called for the statue to be removed.
Police were investigating, a spokesman said Tuesday.
Antwon Rose II, who was shot and killed while running from a traffic stop in East Pittsburgh in 2018, is among those memorialized on the Black Lives Matter mural downtown. Those who created it were repainting it Monday after someone wrote “thug” over Rose’s face, according to WPXI.
Words on parts of the mural are too obscene to report.
Brian C. Rittmeyer is a TribLive reporter covering news in New Kensington, Arnold and Plum. A Pittsburgh native and graduate of Penn State University's Schreyer Honors College, Brian has been with the Trib since December 2000. He can be reached at brittmeyer@triblive.com.
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