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From the Chicago Sun Times: Mayor Brandon Johnson plans to remove the statue of former President George Washington from the hallway outside the mayor’s office on the fifth floor of City Hall in a move that, a top aide said Tuesday, has nothing to do with the first president’s role as a slave owner.
Ronnie Reese, Johnson’s communications director, said the statue “is being removed from the hallway outside the mayor’s office as we make updates to some areas around City Hall.”
Reese said there is no timetable yet for the removal. He wouldn’t say if it would be moved to a new home or put in storage. He also didn’t say what would replace it or provide an estimate of the cost of the changes.
“We’re just freshening up the space. Making it a bit more current. There’s a lot of Chicago icons who would be deserving of statues as well. We should be considering that also — Ida B. Wells, DuSable, Harold Washington,” Reese claimed.
He insisted the removal of the statue is unrelated to Washington’s owning slaves.
Ald. Nick Sposato (38th), Johnson’s handpicked chair of the City Council’s Committee on Cultural Affairs and Special Events, voiced his outrage, demanding, “When does this stop — the redoing everything and eliminating everything? I just don’t get it.”
“When does it stop?” Sposato asked. “He’s George Washington. He risked everything. We are who we are because of this man. He could have just stood down and not get involved with the [Revolutionary] war and came here and lived a good life. But he fought for who we are. He should be honored all over the place.”
NEW: George Washington statue on 5th floor of Chicago City Hall – outside mayor’s office – being removed. @ChicagosMayor spokesman says:
“It is being removed from the hallway outside of the mayor’s office as we make updates to some areas around City Hall.”
— Mary Ann Ahern (@MaryAnnAhernNBC) July 16, 2024
JUST IN: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is removing the statue of George Washington from the Mayor’s city hall office. He says it has nothing to do with history, but instead is intended to modernize the place.
These horrible woke politicians, who’ve done nothing for this… pic.twitter.com/ipKvaHrWFR
— 🇺🇸Travis🇺🇸 (@Travis_4_Trump) July 16, 2024
Mayor Brandon Johnson is set to yank the George Washington statue from the fifth floor of City Hall as part of updates around the building, according to Communications Director Ronnie Reese. pic.twitter.com/XDqRCef3gs
— Clown World ™ 🤡 (@ClownWorld_) July 16, 2024
Mayor Brandon Johnson plans to remove the statue of former President George Washington from the hallway outside the mayor’s office in City Hall in a move that, a top aide said Tuesday, has nothing to do with the first president’s role as a slave owner. https://t.co/x967xLcQiJ
— Chicago Sun-Times (@Suntimes) July 16, 2024
