A civic leader is demanding that Mayor Lori Lightfoot apologize for the obscene and derogatory remarks a lawsuit alleges she made about Italian Americans during a phone call to discuss the statue of Christopher Columbus removed from Arrigo Park. That statue was taken away on Lightfoot’s orders in 2020 after it became the target of protests and vandalism.

The statue is the property of the Chicago Park District, which was sued by the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans seeking the statue’s return. The comment that incensed Ron Onesti, president of the civic committee, was allegedly made during a video call the mayor had the evening of Columbus Day with several people, including two park district attorneys, after she killed a deal the district had made with Onesti’s group to allow the statue to be displayed at the Columbus Day parade, according to the lawsuit.