Lightfoot again says the Columbus statue will return to Grant Park. But almost 2 years after its removal, will it?

Earlier this week, Chicago’s Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she “fully expects” the statue of Christopher Columbus to be returned to its pedestal in Grant Park.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Lightfoot also said she wants a security plan to be put in place to prevent a repeat of the July 2020 debacle that left many police officers injured.

“I’m not gonna do anything that puts our officers in harm’s way,” the mayor said. “I will probably be forever haunted by the experience of the vigilantes, who attacked our officers in Grant Park that summer. Came armed with — not signs, but frozen water bottles, firecrackers and other things that severely wounded many of the police officers [who] were there.”

Lightfoot added that residents “care deeply about” certain “legacy” statues, particularly ones that have been the “subject of controversy,” such as the Grant Park statue that was removed after the protests. Her overriding goal is “making sure that, if that statue comes back, which I fully expect that it will, that we have a safety plan in place,” according to the Sun-Times.

In July 2020, Lightfoot ordered the two Columbus statues “temporarily” removed in the middle of the night based on information that something bad was going to happen.

The mayor also argued that the statue, which was vandalized after the death of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, should not be torn down, but used to confront America’s history.