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Liberal activists urge San Jose to MELT statue of former mayor Thomas Fallon for planting American flag in city to claim land from Mexico in 1846

  San Jose residents have urged city officials to remove and melt down a statue of Thomas Fallon claiming that it celebrates white supremacy...

 San Jose residents have urged city officials to remove and melt down a statue of Thomas Fallon claiming that it celebrates white supremacy, violence and genocide.

Nearly 150 people attended the virtual public forum this week to demand officials remove the statue of the city's 10th mayor, KNTV reported.

All but one of the attendees openly agreed to its removal, according to the outlet. 

San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, not pictured, has since called for the removal of the controversial statue

San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, not pictured, has since called for the removal of the controversial statue

The statue of Thomas Fallon, pictured, was previously vandalized during Black Lives Matter protests

The statue of Thomas Fallon, pictured, was previously vandalized during Black Lives Matter protests

The statue was commissioned in 1988 to memorialize Fallon planting of the American flag in the city in 1846

The statue was commissioned in 1988 to memorialize Fallon planting of the American flag in the city in 1846

'Since when do losers of laws make the rules? You're erasing history,' said the lone dissident.


San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo has since called for the removal of the controversial statue, he announced in a blog post.


'For the third time in three decades, debate over the Thomas Fallon Statue has reopened old wounds and deepened divides. I am calling for the commencement of the City's standard process to remove the Fallon Statue,' Liccardo wrote.

'At the conclusion of that public process — barring some startling and dramatic change in the facts — I'll support the removal of the statue. It's time to move on.'

Thomas Fallon served as the 10th mayor of San Jose

Thomas Fallon served as the 10th mayor of San Jose

Liccardo noted that the decision does not 'vindicate any acts of vandalism against this or any other public property' after the statue was previously defaced by Black Lives Matter protesters.

'Vandals should be arrested and punished according to the law,' he wrote. 

'In a representative democracy, we must decide to erect or take down public statues through transparent, inclusive public processes, not on the whim of a few individuals equipped with a truck and a rope.'

During the Mexican-American war, before California was a part of the United States, Thomas Fallon raised a group of 22 volunteers and appointed himself captain. 

Fallon's force crossed captured what is now San Jose on July 11, 1846 and planted an American flag in the city on July 14. 

The statue was commissioned in 1988 to memorialize the planting of the American flag. 

However, Fallon was 'known to dislocate residents, abuse, lynch, and slaughter Mexicans,' reads a Change.org petition launched to remove the statue.