Woman arrested after San Jose Christopher Columbus statue defaced

Christopher Columbus statue in San Jose City Hall.

A 25-year-old woman was arrested Friday in connection with the vandalism of a controversial Christopher Columbus statue at City Hall, San Jose police confirmed to the Mercury News.

Gina Darlene Gonzales, was arrested and issued a citation for vandalism and released at the scene, Sgt. Enrique Garcia told the newspaper.

Police found Gonzales at the Martin Luther King Library about 11:22 a.m. Friday after she was recognized by a City Hall security guard from a surveillance video of the vandalism on Thursday.

The marble statue symbolizes genocide and white supremacy to the Brown Berets, who want it taken down. Officials from the Italian American Heritage Foundation launched a counter-petition to save the statue, arguing it represents a part of American history.

Last week, San Jose cit leaders discussed placing it somewhere else, the Mercury News reported.

A day after the decision, a woman walked up to the statue and smeared red and black paint all over it. Video surveillance footage, which won’t be released because it’s considered evidence, shows the woman walking up to the statue at least three times and rubbing her paint-filled hands on it.