A hearing on a petition that calls on Buffalo lawmakers to remove the Christopher Columbus statue in Columbus Park — and rename the park — prompted a spirited debate Tuesday in Common Council chambers. Proponents of removing the statue, as proposed by the Buffalo Anti-Racism Coalition, argued it's unseemly to have a monument to a historical figure who, they said, committed atrocities against indigenous peoples and who they claimed didn't discover America.

"There are alternative theories about who got here first," said Lesley Haynes, a member of the coalition, one of the speakers during the hearing held by the Council's Legislation Committee. "Some will say it was the Vikings, Irish monks or Leif Erickson." "Why does Christopher Columbus get all of the credit?" Haynes asked.