Liberal Seattle mayor agrees with Trump supporters about one statue, but it’s complicated

It’s a rare victory for supporters of President Donald Trump in one of America’s most liberal cities.

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray agreed with the position of conservatives who argued that the city’s statue of former Russian leader Vladimir Lenin needs to go.

“In the last few days, Seattleites have expressed concerns and frustration over symbols of hate, racism and violence that exist in our city. Not only do these kinds of symbols represent historic injustices, their existence causes pain among those who themselves or whose family members have been impacted by these atrocities,” Murray said in an interview on KIRO Radio 97.3 on Wednesday.

“We should remove all these symbols, no matter what political affiliation may have been assigned to them in the decades since they were erected. This includes both confederate memorials and statues idolizing the founder of the authoritarian Soviet regime. Both are on private property, but I believe the confederate memorial at Lake View Cemetery and the Lenin statue in Fremont should be removed. We should never forget our history, but we also should not idolize figures who have committed violent atrocities and sought to divide us based on who we are or where we came from,” he said.

The outrage began, in earnest, on social media after the deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville over the weekend began a campaign of cities ripping Confederate Statues off of their foundations.

That caused conservatives to take to the Internet and ask why the Lenin statue was still standing.

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Image: Google Images

The Seattle mayor made his comments the day after a group of the president’s supporters, led by author and political operative Jack Posobiec, protested the statue, Seattle Pi reported.

Removing the statue is more complicated than getting a decree from the mayor because it is on private land held by the Fremont Chamber of Commerce.

A spokesperson for the chamber told Seattle PI that the statue represents free speech and is “an integral part of the quirkiness of the neighborhood.”

Image: Screenshot

The statue was brought to Seattle after it was removed from display in Czechoslovakia following the fall of the Soviet Union.

After the man who purchased it died in 1994 it was loaned to the Freemont District while the man’s family searched for a buyer for the statue. A buyer that has still never come.

It has been on display in the Freemont District since 1995.

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