Quincy Mayor's Plan For Catholic Saint Statues Sparks ACLU Pushback

Quincy Mayor Tom Koch wants to put statues of two Catholic saints on a new public safety building – and the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts and some elected officials aren't happy about it.The ACLU of Massachusetts claims the statues would violate the separation of church and state and that a St. Michael statue alludes to police violence..St. Michael the Archangel is the patron saint of police officers; the statue would show him defeating Satan. The other statue would show Roman army commander St. Florian, a Catholic martyr and the patron saint of firefighters.The ACLU of Massachusetts may be setting up for a legal challenge against the statues. The organization sent a lengthy public records request to the mayor’s office on February 27, asking for various communications involving Mayor Koch about the two statues.As of Tuesday, March 11, the ACLU of Massachusetts has not yet announced a lawsuit against the city challenging the statue.The ACLU of Massachusetts says the St. Michael statue is a reminder of George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis in May 2020 “because it depicts a figure stepping on the neck of a demon.”“Such violent imagery is particularly abhorrent in light of the murder of George Floyd and other acts of police brutality throughout this country,” states a letter from February 24 signed by three lawyers representing the ACLU of Massachusetts sent to the mayor’s office and the city council.In May 2020, Floyd died at the hands of a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The officer kneeled on Floyd, including on his neck, for about eight minutes after Floyd resisted arrest. Floyd, 46, who was in poor health and under the influence of fentanyl, died not long afterward.The ACLU of Massachusetts also says “placing larger-than-life statues of Catholic saints in front of a public building unequivocally advances one religion to the exclusion of all others.”However, Quincy Mayor Tom Koch, a pro-life Catholic who left the Democratic Party in 2017 because the national party chairman at the time said pro-lifers were not welcome, says he isn’t worried about the liberal organization’s concerns.“I don’t hold ACLU in much regard, in high regard,” Koch told the public access cable station Quincy Access Television (QATV) on February 25. “So I think it’s just a crazy letter sent without understanding the whole situation. This city is diverse, been diverse a long time. And I’m proud of our city, and we do great work in so many different areas. We’re at the top of the heap of services provided to everybody in this city, whatever their background is. So I think that’s a lot of malarkey.”As Koch points out, Quincy is a diverse city, known for its large Chinese and Vietnamese immigrant population. The city is 55.6 percent white, though it has a substantial Asian population (29.2 percent), according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That is especially true in North Quincy; North Quincy High School’s student body is 56.1 percent Asian and 32 percent white, according to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.Quincy officials open a new public safety building in October 2025. It will cost $175 million and cover 120,000 square feet across five stories. It will sit on 10 acres of land on Sea Street, not far from the current Quincy police station on the intersection of Southern Artery (Route 3A) and Sea Street.The building will host the police department, plus fire department administrative offices and other emergency services. The Quincy City Council approved the project in April 2021. The council then approved another $23 million for it at a November 2022 meeting.At a time that has not been made public, Koch decided he wanted to add statues to the front of the building, his chief of staff recently explained.“And at some point … the mayor was looking at the side of the building, and he said, ‘Do you think we could do something out front? Do we have any flexibility within the budget to do some artwork out front to enhance the facade of the building?’” Christopher Walker, Koch’s chief of staff, during a February 24 city council meeting.“This was ultimately and only the mayor’s decision. He believes in this. He thinks it’s the right thing to do,” he added.Without publicly announcing it, Koch decided the public safety building should have 10-foot bronze statues of St. Florian and St. Michael, costing the city about $850,000.The statue plans have divided the city.A Change.org petition calling on Koch to reverse his decision has nearly 1,500 signees.“Though religious subjects are not illegal, they are inappropriate for a diverse city such as Quincy,” the petition says. “The violence portrayed on a heroic scale of St. Michael the Archangel is especially frightening and conjures images of police violence which is contrary to Quincy Police Dept’s mission of public safety. The secrecy surrounding the project from its inception is antithetical to good governance. The cost of almost $1 million is a reckless misuse of our taxes."“Mayor Koch, cut our losses and cancel this commission now,” it adds.Ward 5 City Councilor Dan Minton, a retired Quincy police officer, says he worries the statue would send the wrong message.Here is what he wrote in a February 8 Facebook post, in part:Although it is only a statue, the violent image is not the way Police Officers conduct themselves. I don’t know if this new statue is going to depict the same violent image but from what I have researched, most do. It made me think of brutal force and I don’t want citizens to connect this statue with the way our Officers treat anyone. The statue would be misleading when it comes to the QPD, where members strive to keep its citizens safe. Although there are dangerous incidents which make headlines, what often goes unnoticed is the department’s humanitarian efforts in daily interactions, whether it is a one on one basis, or with community groups, or one of the many outreach programs.Other Quincy elected officials agree with him, according to The Patriot Ledger.Ward 2 City Councilor Richard Ash commented "Nicely stated!" on his post, while School Committee member Courtney Perdios commented, "Well said!" Meanwhile, School Committee member Kathryn Hubley gave Minton's post a heart reaction; former at-large city councilor Anne Mahoney, who unsuccessfully ran for mayor against Koch in 2011 and 2023, liked the post.However, supporters argue the statues merely express support for first responders and aren’t about favoring one religion over another or promoting violence. “I’m fine with the way that the setup is,” city councilor David McCarthy said during the February 24 city council meeting.”I’m fine with the artwork. I’m fine that it’s a message of support. I never took it as a religious — any type of religious-type annotation, that we were going down that path.”Quincy Police Chief Mark Kennedy also voiced support for the statues at the meeting.“And I can just tell you that, from my perspective, they’re symbols of the police and the fire department,” Kennedy said. “And I think they are so much more than religious and political. I think they remind each of us of the respective oaths that we took when we took this job. And again, from my perspective, and I hope I’m speaking for the men and women of the police and the fire department when I say that I see them as symbols of protection, justice, bravery and sacrifice.”Kennedy’s statement earned applause from the meeting’s attendees, including first responders.Koch's office and the ACLU of Massachusetts could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.

Quincy Mayor's Plan For Catholic Saint Statues Sparks ACLU Pushback

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