Tarp covers vandalized Andrew Jackson statue at county courthouse in downtown KC
A tarp covered the vandalized statue of President Andrew Jackson at the Jackson County Courthouse in downtown Kansas City the morning after county executive Frank White called for its removal.
Two men were arrested Thursday after they allegedly defaced the statue during a protest Thursday afternoon, according to police.
Police had responded to the area just after 5:30 p.m. after receiving a call that some protesters were defacing the statue. Officers observed from the distance two people who appeared to be responsible for the vandalism.
The statue had been spray-painted with expletives and the words “Slave Owner.”
Police took the two 25-year-old men into custody as the crowd began to disperse.
The vandalism prompted White to issue a statement calling for the removal of Jackson statues, which are in front of the county’s courthouses in Kansas City and Independence.
White had said he had planned to address the issue of their removal at the county legislature’s meeting Monday, but decided to issue his recommendation after the one of the statues was defaced.
“Countless men, women and children come through the doors of our courthouses every day,” he said in the statement. “And every day, racism and discrimination are staring them in the face. Statues of Andrew Jackson — our country’s seventh president and county’s namesake — stand outside two of our courthouses, public buildings where we want and need people to feel welcome.
“Yet, they are greeted by a man who owned hundreds of slaves, opposed the abolitionist movement and caused thousands of Native Americans to die when he forced them out of their homeland for white settlement. As long as these statues remain, our words about fairness, justice and equality will continue to ring hollow for many we serve.”
White said he planned to ask that special committee be formed to hold public hearings to discuss the removal of the statues.
History can never be erased because it’s already written, he said.
“But we don’t need symbols to remind us of the decades of oppression endured by people of color when that is the very thing we are desperately trying to dismantle and heal from today,” he said. “Like all great counties, this is an opportunity for us to change and evolve together for the better.”
This story was originally published June 26, 2020 at 10:26 AM.
