The controversial Christopher Columbus statue located inside San Jose's City Hall building was removed and placed into a hall of the Italian American Heritage Foundation on Saturday, according to the City Hall building manager. At the City Council meeting on Jan. 30, Mayor Sam Liccardo and the City Council decided on a six-week deadline to remove the 9-foot-tall statue and find a new location.

The topic was discussed after Councilmember Raul Peralez recommended in a September 2017 memo that the statue be moved to "a more appropriate location, with input from the community" since it had become the subject of several security issues beginning in 2001.