SAN JOSE, Calif. (KRON) — A statue in downtown San Jose is coming down after 30-plus years.
The city council voted unanimously Tuesday to remove the Thomas Fallon statue located at the intersection of West Julian and West St. James streets.
However, the city council does not know exactly when and how they will remove the statue.
The bronze statue that weighs 12,000 pounds will either be melted or removed then taken to a storage facility, which could cost the city up to $450,000 towards “de-installation” efforts.
For some, the Fallon statue is controversial because he represents colonization, genocide, and the taking over of other people’s land.
Opponents of Fallon’s statue said it represents a troubling moment in history when the U.S. used the Mexican-American War as a reason to take California from Mexico, according to the city’s website.
During the George Floyd protest last year, statues, like Fallon, were vandalized across the country.
Fallon’s statue was one of many vandalized during the protests because it represented colonization and genocide in the eyes of some people.
Former San Jose Mayor Tom McEnery said those attributes associated with Fallon have nothing to do with the statue located downtown.
Bay City News contributed to this report.