A city councilor in Rhode Island says she thinks the recent vandalism to a Christopher Columbus statue is a good thing.
Democrat Katherine Kerwin told WPRO radio on Wednesday that she thinks the statue should be removed and that healthy civil disobedience is good for society and the city of Providence.
Kerwin says that she doesn't know who's responsible for the vandalism but that "I stand with them." She praised the vandal for "creating a really healthy dialogue in Providence."
People stop to view red paint covering a statue of Christopher Columbus on Monday, Oct. 14, 2019, in Providence, R.I., after it was vandalized on the day named to honor him as one of the first Europeans to reach the New World. The statue has been the target of vandals on Columbus Day in the past. (AP PhotoMichelle R. Smith)
Democratic Mayor Jorge Elorza said Tuesday he'd consider moving the statue to another neighborhood.
The Columbus statue was one of several vandalized nationwide around the time of the U.S. holiday named for him.
Native American advocates have pressed states to change Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day over concerns the explorer spurred centuries of genocide.
A sign reading "stop celebrating genocide" sits at the base of a statue of Christopher Columbus on Monday, Oct. 14, 2019, in Providence, R.I., after it was vandalized with red paint on the day named to honor him as one of the first Europeans to reach the New World. The statue has been the target of vandals on Columbus Day in the past. (AP PhotoMichelle R. Smith)
A sign reading "stop celebrating genocide" sits at the base of a statue of Christopher Columbus on Monday, Oct. 14, 2019, in Providence, R.I., after it was vandalized with red paint on the day named to honor him as one of the first Europeans to reach the New World. The statue has been the target of vandals on Columbus Day in the past. (AP PhotoMichelle R. Smith)
BEIRUT (AP) — The United States has repatriated 11 of its citizens from sprawling camps in northeastern Syria that house tens of thousands of family members of suspected Islamic State militants, the U.S. State Department said Tuesday.
The repatriation was the largest Washington has carried out from the camps to date, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. Five of the 11 citizens brought back were children, and one non-U.S. citizen child -- the 9-year-old sibling of one of the other children -- was also brought with them.
As part of the same operation, the U.S. facilitated the repatriation of 11 other camp residents, eight of them children, to Canada, the Netherlands and Finland, the statement said.
Although the pace of repatriations has picked up -- neighboring Iraq recently returned hundreds of its citizens -- many countries remain reluctant to bring back citizens from the al Hol and al Roj camps, which now hold about 30,000 people from more than 60 countries, most of them children.
The camps are run by local authorities affiliated with the U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. The SDF and its allies, including U.S.-led coalition forces, defeated the Islamic State group in Syria in 2019, ending its self-proclaimed Islamic “caliphate” that had ruled over a large swath of territory straddling Iraq and Syria.
Human rights groups have regularly reported on what they describe as inhumane living conditions and abuses in the camps and in detention centers where suspected IS members are housed.
“The only durable solution to the humanitarian and security crisis” in the facilities “is for countries to repatriate, rehabilitate, reintegrate, and where appropriate, ensure accountability for wrongdoing,” Blinken said in the statement.
FILE - Kurdish forces patrol al-Hol camp, which houses families of members of the Islamic State group in Hasakeh province, Syria, on April 19, 2023. The United States has repatriated 11 of its citizens from sprawling camps in northeastern Syria that house tens of thousands of family members of suspected Islamic State militants, the U.S. State Department said Tuesday May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Baderkhan Ahmad, File)
FILE - Women shop in the marketplace at al-Hol camp, home to families of Islamic State fighters, in Hasakeh province, Syria, on March 31, 2019. The United States has repatriated 11 of its citizens from sprawling camps in northeastern Syria that house tens of thousands of family members of suspected Islamic State militants, the U.S. State Department said Tuesday May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo, File)
