The wooden box surrounding Christopher Columbus in South Philadelphia’s Marconi Plaza must come down.
In the heated months following the George Floyd Protests, statutes across the country became targets of protests by woke mobs, including the Philadelphia Columbus statue. In response, Philadelphia’s Historical Commission held a vote, ultimately deciding to remove the statue, which kicked off a multitude of legal battles between Italian-American groups and the City of Philadelphia.
Today, the Dom Giordano Program was the first to report that a Commonwealth Court judge ruled that the box around the Columbus Statue must come down, with the lead attorney pushing for the removal, George Bochetto, joining the show.
"I can't wait to get there, I'm literally still reading the opinion," Bochetto told GIordano. "I've got a hammer and a screwdriver at my house. I'm going to stop by my house, pick up the hammer and screwdriver, and go take the box down."
Bochetto continued, "They're going to have to arrest me this time. They threatened me the last time when I tried to take the box down...now that the appeal is over, they're gonna have to arrest me for taking that box down."
Later in the show, Bochetto returned as he arrived at Marconi Plaza, providing live updates, but also with some further commentary after taking the time for everything to sink in.
"Not just Italian-Americans in Philadelphia and America have prevailed, every ethnic group has prevailed with this ruling. This ruling protects all ethnic heritages, not just Italian-Americans," Bochetto told Giordano.
"It really signifies that we do not elect tyrants or dictators to be Mayor or Governor, or even President, we elect them to follow the rule of law, follow the structures, give the people the input they deserve on what kind of artwork is displayed and what kind of ethnic heritages are celebrated."