Scoop: Philadelphia's Frank Rizzo statue may return to supporters
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Police officers guard the Frank Rizzo statue amid protests over police brutality on May 30, 2020. Photo: Bastiaan Slabbers/NurPhoto via Getty
The people who paid for the Frank L. Rizzo sculpture removed from Center City in 2020 say they're close to having it returned, pending settlement of a long-running lawsuit.
Why it matters: The bronze monument of Philadelphia's former mayor and police commissioner remains a divisive symbol, and its removal was among the most visible changes sparked by racial justice protests following police's killing of George Floyd.
Driving the news: The city is poised to settle a state suit with the Frank L. Rizzo Monument Committee in the coming weeks, the group's attorney George Bochetto tells Axios.
- Once the deal is completed, Bochetto says the committee will retake possession of the 9-foot statue, currently in city storage.
- Bochetto added the city will pay an undisclosed amount of money to cover statue repairs.
What they're saying: "It's pretty much a done deal," Bochetto said.
- He said the committee plans to find a "suitable place to relocate it," most likely in South Philly.
City spokesperson Joe Grace declined to comment on the litigation.
Catch up quick: The statue, formerly outside the Municipal Services Building, became a flashpoint during the 2020 racial justice demonstrations when protesters defaced, attempted to topple and burn it.
- Former Mayor Jim Kenney issued an emergency order to remove it in June 2020, citing a threat to public health, safety and welfare.
- People painted over a mural of Rizzo in South Philly, where he was from, in the wake of the protests.
Zoom in: The committee — which commissioned and donated the statue in 1998 — filed the lawsuit soon after its removal.
- It said the city's removal process violated the terms of a prior agreement and it was entitled to recover the work.
Friction point: Philly continues to reckon with Rizzo's legacy.
- He was a city champion and devoted public servant who cracked down on crime to supporters.
- But opponents, particularly those in the Black and LGBTQ+ communities, condemned Rizzo's aggressive police tactics and "law-and-order" policies — casting him as a symbol of racism, bigotry and unchecked brutality.
Mayor Cherelle Parker celebrated the statute's removal as a city legislator in 2020.
- "The statue represented bigotry, hatred, and oppression for too many people, for too long. It is finally gone," she wrote on social media after its taking down.
Zoom out: The city has stumbled in its attempts to remove controversial monuments in the wake of the social justice protests.
- Efforts to remove Christopher Columbus statues in South Philly's Marconi Plaza and at Penn's Landing have fizzled.
- Bochetto also was part of lawsuits to keep the Columbus statues.