WASHINGTON — Two people were injured in a car crash in Lincoln Park Thursday morning, the United States Park Police said.
Around 5:41 a.m. Park Police officers were dispatched to Lincoln Park for a one-car crash. Officers said that a car traveling south on 12th Street, Northeast drove up on the park sidewalk and continue until it crashed into the base of the Emancipation Memorial, also known as the Freedman's Memorial. The car flipped over and came to rest at the base of the statue, Park Police said.
"#DCsBravest responded at 5:36 AM for a reported vehicle crash with rollover in Lincoln Park on East Capitol St SE," DC Fire & EMS tweeted Thursday morning. "Vehicle found on its side adjacent to statue."
The driver was transported to a local hospital with minor injuries, and a female passenger was extracted from the crash by DC FEMS and sent to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Park Police said they believe the crash was an isolated incident and do not believe there are any ongoing safety concerns to the public.
When asked if there was damage to the Emancipation Memorial, Park Police did not comment.
The Emancipation Monument in Lincoln Park drew attention this summer after protesters called for the statue's removal. The statue depicts President Abraham Lincoln standing over a freed enslaved African American who appears to be kneeling at his feet with broken shackles around his wrists. The statue was erected in 1876 to pay homage to the president, but many have taken issue with its "degrading racial undertones," as described in a petition to remove it.
Marcus Goodwin, who ran for an at-large seat on the D.C. Council this year, started an online petition saying the statue stirred up a lot of thoughts and emotion about racial inequality in America and imagery that depicts African Americans as inferior to others.
“I think we should all move to see better symbols in society that show all people being equal,” he said.
The cousin of boxing legend Muhammad Ali, Keith Winstead, said that he became interested in the story of Archer Alexander, the man depicted on the statue with Lincoln, after taking a DNA test and learning that he and Ali were descendants of Alexander.
"If everybody knew that he was breaking the chains from his ankles in the process of standing, they would look at it differently," Winstead said. "He wasn't being subservient to anybody. If people knew about Archer Alexander and how he lived and what he did, they would take pride in seeing that memorial."
Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton also wants the Emancipation Memorial removed, and said she will look to introduce legislation in the House of Representatives if the National Park Service cannot remove it.
“Because Lincoln Park is National Park Service (NPS) land, I will work with the NPS to see whether NPS has the authority to remove the statue without an act of Congress, and if so, we will seek its removal without a bill," said Norton in a statement from her office. "This statue has been controversial from the start. It is time it was placed in a museum.”
