A Minnesota prosecutor charged an Indigenous activist with a felony on Friday in the toppling of a Christopher Columbus statue on state Capitol grounds during a rally weeks after the death of George Floyd.
Mike Forcia, a member of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, is charged with criminal damage to property. Forcia, also a Twin Cities American Indian Movement activist, organized the June 10 American Indian Movement rally at the Capitol that resulted in the toppling of the statue, which came as many similar monuments were being pulled down worldwide after Floyd’s death in late May.
