CHICAGO — A former attorney for the City of Chicago is suing Mayor Lori Lightfoot for defamation after she allegedly berated a group of lawyers during a heated meeting over the removal of the Christopher Columbus Statue. The statue was removed in July 2020 following unrest over the murder of George Floyd. Under Lightfoot’s orders, crews used a large crane to remove the statue from its pedestal in Grant Park following a week after protesters trying to topple the monument clashed with police. The lawsuit, filed Wednesday by former Chicago Park District counsel general George Smyrniotis, says Lightfoot blocked a...
