Christopher Columbus Statue
San Jose, California, United States
Date of incident: 03/08/2001

On March 8, 2001, Native American activist, James Cosner, attacked a marble statue of Christopher Columbus in the San Jose City Hall with a sledgehammer. Cosner broke off one of the arms, both legs, the top of the scroll, and cracked pits into the face of the statue, while shouting, “Genocide! This man rode our backs! This man murdered us!” Cosner was sentenced to 10 months in jail, $65,000 in restitution, and 5,250 hours of community service. The statue will be rebuilt with city tax money and will be erected in the new city hall.

Sources
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb5088/is_200104/ai_n18489438/print
http://www.ainfos.ca/01/aug/ainfos00068.html

Photo Credit
Peter van der Krogt: http://columbus.vanderkrogt.net