They took it down.
Now let’s stand up.
Restore the
Columbus statue
in Ohio’s capital.
FRIENDS OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS
STAND WITH US
Your donation will help fund a federal lawsuit filed by proven litigator George Bochetto.
WHY NOW?
Because our history deserves its day in court. Columbus, Ohio’s Italian American community has already raised thousands to support the lawsuit — filed on behalf of the Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations (COPOMIAO) and the Friends of Christopher Columbus Foundation (FOCCF). But this fight will take time, and every contribution strengthens our effort to see justice served and history restored in our capital city.
WHO WE ARE
Led by Hon. Basil M. Russo, COPOMIAO is a national advocacy coalition of 75 cultural, educational, fraternal and anti-defamation organizations. COPOMIAO’s National Counsel, George Bochetto, restored Columbus Day as a citywide holiday in Philadelphia in August 2025 and prevented the removal of Pittsburgh’s Columbus statue in April 2024.
FOCCF is an emerging nonprofit founded by business leader Giacomo Conte. Together, Russo, Bochetto and Conte are deploying winning legal strategies to fight for the return of the city’s 20-foot bronze Columbus statue — created by sculptor Edoardo Alfieri and gifted to Columbus, Ohio, by Genoa, Italy, in 1955 (the statue was removed by City Hall in 2020 amid civil unrest).
WHO WE ARE
