This recently came to my attention from the New York Commission for Social Justice of the Order of the Sons of Italy: "We have received an alert, not sure if it is credible, by a group claiming to vandalize and tear down statues of Columbus on October 9th. The following letter, which I received no response from [police] Commissioner O'Neil, was sent weeks ago. I am going to repeat my request to the Commissioner to add security around the various statues of Columbus throughout the City and charge anyone caught committing this crime with a hate crime." The letter continues by saying, "To the Italian-American Community these acts are acts of hatred toward Italian Americans and other Europeans that arrived to our great country since 1492." What started as an assault against Confederate veterans has been spreading to so-called "symbols of hate" of Italian, Spanish, Dutch and other notable figures of European ancestry. The "symbol of hate" most under attack lately--the American flag! I will try to post a copy of the original letter as soon as possible. Stay tuned!