SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE) – A coalition of groups was occupying the Santa Fe Plaza on Sunday while demanding the mayor remove a controversial obelisk. In a statement, the group called the obelisk a racist symbol of colonization and oppression, which is standing on stolen native land and they will occupy the plaza until it is removed entirely.

“We here are an anonymous group of de-centralized individuals who decided that as a result of an ask we received from a coalition of anonymous natives in New Mexico to act to put pressure on the mayor to take down the obelisk here in Santa Fe Plaza,” a protester named Curly said. The protesters say they are hoping to amass a full force of protesters Monday at noon for Indigenous People’s Day.

In a statement released Sunday evening, Mayor Alan Webber called for the protesters to, “come down off the obelisk” to have a conversation about statues, monuments, histories, and cultures.

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