KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A resolution to remove two statues of former US president Andrew Jackson from Jackson County courthouse grounds has moved up to the budget committee for further discussion.
The resolution, which was put forth by Jackson County legislator Manny Abarca, was introduced Monday during the Jackson County Legislator's meeting.
The two statues reside at two Jackson County courthouses, one near 12th Street and Locust Street in downtown KCMO and another outside the Jackson County Courthouse Annex on the Truman Square in Independence.
The two statues has been a highly political topic in the last three years.
The push for the removal of the statues began in June 2020, after two men were arrested for vandalizing the downtown statue on June 25.
The statue, which has been up since 1933, was spray painted with several obscenities as well the word “slave owner.”
Voters had the opportunity to decide whether the statues should remain, with 59% of voters ultimately voting to keep the statues at Jackson County courthouses in November of 2020.
The Jackson County Prosecutor's Office has tried to meet both parties in the middle, with the statue remaining at the courthouses, but both having plaques that were posted near the statues to give more context about Jackson.
However, activists have still called for the removal because Jackson was a slave owner and is notorious for the Indian Removal Act.
The resolution now heads to the Jackson County Budget Committee, with potential opportunity that a full legislature could vote on the resolution that would award contracts for removal and storage as early as next week.
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