PROVIDENCE REPUBLICAN
CITY COMMITTEE
NEWS RELEASE
| Release Date | 2020-06-25 |
| Subject | Providence GOP Blasts Elorza On Removal Of Columbus Statue |
| Contacts | DAVID TALAN < DaveTalan@aol.com > |
| WILLIAM RICCI < ProvidenceRepublican@gmail.com > |
The Co-Chairs of the Providence Republican Party, David Talan and William Ricci, have blasted Mayor Elorza's "idiotic" decision to remove the statue of Christopher Columbus from Columbus Square (Reservoir Ave. & Elmwood Ave.), where it has stood for more than a century. The action was taken in response to "vandalism by extreme progressive Democratic criminals".
Talan & Ricci said that the statue is "right where it belongs". Talan, who is also President of the Reservoir Triangle Neighborhood Association, noted that the statue was built right in his own neighborhood, at the former Gorhams Mfg. complex (where Mashapaug Commons is now located). "This is where the statue should be; in this community; just a few hundred yards from where it was built."
By contrast, Talan noted, the progressives who were arrested last week, for vandalizing the statue, are all "outsiders". The teacher who was arrested lives on Salina St. in the North End, the total opposite side of the city. And the 2 women who were arrested are from Massachusetts. Talan and Ricci applauded the efforts of Democrat Councilman James Taylor, to keep the statue where it belongs, in this neighborhood.
The GOP leaders asked, "Where does this politically correct insanity end? What other things, that offend extreme progressive snowflakes, will Elorza try to change next?"
Ricci noted that lots of Providence streets are named for people currently being protested. "Will we have to change the names of these streets – Washington St. (Downtown); Jefferson St. (Smith Hill); Madison St. (West End); Jackson Walkway (Downtown); Lincoln Ave. (East Side); Grant St. (West Broadway); Wilson St. (West Elmwood); Yale St. (Mt. Pleasant); & Roosevelt St. (Silver Lake – 2 streets from the Mayor's house). Talan added, "Will the Mayor demand that Brown University change its' name? And will he have the city boycott WPRO radio, whose talk show host, Tara Granahan, has the same name as the 'plantation' in Gone With The Wind?"
The GOP leaders suggested that Elorza place a statue of himself at Columbus Square. "Then, we can send people to vandalize it, without any fear of consequences. The Mayor has indicated that he will tolerate vandalism, and will remove the targets of these criminal acts. So this might be a good way to remove him as Mayor!"