The Frank Rizzo statue, a nine-foot bronze of Philadelphia’s former police commissioner and mayor, stood on the south steps of the Municipal Services Building from January 1999 until the city removed it overnight on June 2–3, 2020, during protests following the killing of George Floyd. After five years in storage and a lawsuit by the private committee that had donated it, the Philadelphia Art Commission voted unanimously in August 2025 to return the statue to that committee, with $80,000 for damage sustained during removal and a strict condition: it can never again be visible from a public street.
Why the Statue Was Contested
Frank Rizzo served as Philadelphia’s police commissioner from 1967 to 1971 and as mayor from 1972 to 1980. Supporters called him “the toughest cop in America” and elected him twice, with 53 percent of the vote the first time and 65 percent the second.1Religion Lab at UVA. The City’s Salvation: Frank Rizzo and White Christian Nationalism in Philadelphia
Civil rights advocates recorded a different legacy. As commissioner, Rizzo led an August 1970 raid on the Black Panther Party headquarters and commanded the police response to the 1964 Columbia Avenue uprising and the Girard College integration protests. A study cited by federal officials found that Philadelphia police shot civilians at a rate of roughly one per week between 1970 and 1978, and in 1979 the U.S. Department of Justice sued the city and Rizzo over systemic police abuses.2The Philadelphia Inquirer. Frank Rizzo’s Legacy of Police Violence1Religion Lab at UVA. The City’s Salvation: Frank Rizzo and White Christian Nationalism in Philadelphia As mayor, Rizzo opposed public housing in white neighborhoods, resisted school desegregation, and during a campaign to lift term limits urged an all-white audience to “vote white.”3The Conversation. How Frank Rizzo Became Philadelphia’s Toughest Cop and a Harbinger of MAGA Politics He died in 1991 while running for mayor a third time.
The statue drew protests from the day it was proposed. Vandals defaced it repeatedly over two decades, and by 2017 organized campaigns were pressing for removal. Philly for REAL Justice launched a “Frank Rizzo Down” campaign, and City Councilwoman Helen Gym called publicly for the statue to come down, citing Rizzo’s “racially polarizing political career.”4WHYY. A Historian on the Rizzo Debate: It Comes Down to What Statues Do Mayor Jim Kenney initially proposed relocating it to South Philadelphia, then folded the move into a planned 2021 renovation of Thomas Paine Plaza.5City of Philadelphia. City Announces Removal of Rizzo Statue
How the Statue Got There
About seven months after Rizzo’s death, his son Frank Rizzo Jr. and other allies formed the Frank L. Rizzo Monument Committee and raised private funds for a memorial.6The Philadelphia Inquirer. Frank Rizzo Statue Display and Sculptor Controversy The committee hired sculptor Zenos Frudakis under a $100,000 contract in early 1994. Frudakis, who has described his politics as “to the left of Bernie Sanders,” later said he took the job as an emerging artist looking for opportunities in Philadelphia.7WHYY. On Furor Over Rizzo Statue, Sculptor Zenos Frudakis Says ‘Let’s Talk About It’ The bronze depicts Rizzo waving during a parade on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, a pose Frudakis said was modeled on Augustus Caesar for “decorum and dignity.” It was installed in late 1998 and formally unveiled on January 1, 1999.
The terms of the donation would matter years later. Under a Donation and Maintenance Agreement signed on December 30, 1998, the committee donated the statue to the city, and legal title passed to Philadelphia upon installation.8City of Philadelphia. Executive Order to Remove the Frank Rizzo Statue The agreement gave the city the right “to damage, remove, destroy, destruct, distort, or modify” the statue at its sole discretion, but generally required six months’ written notice before destroying it, unless immediate action was needed to protect public health, safety, or welfare.9City of Philadelphia. Frank Rizzo Statue – Art Commission Submission
The June 2020 Removal
Over the weekend of May 30, 2020, protesters in Philadelphia defaced the statue with paint, set it on fire, and tried to pull it down with ropes.10WAMU. Frank Rizzo Statue Is Removed in Philadelphia On June 1, Mayor Kenney said he “never liked” the statue and intended to have it moved within the month. On June 2, he signed an executive order directing the Managing Director to remove it immediately.8City of Philadelphia. Executive Order to Remove the Frank Rizzo Statue Crews worked overnight, and by the morning of June 3 the statue was gone.
“The Frank Rizzo statue represented bigotry, hatred, and oppression for too many people, for too long,” Kenney said. “It is finally gone.”10WAMU. Frank Rizzo Statue Is Removed in Philadelphia He later called the earlier plan to delay removal “a mistake,” saying the administration had “prioritized efficiency over full recognition of what this statue represented to Black Philadelphians and members of other marginalized communities.”5City of Philadelphia. City Announces Removal of Rizzo Statue The Department of Public Property moved the statue into secure storage.
The Lawsuit and the 2025 Settlement
The Frank L. Rizzo Monument Committee, represented by attorney George Bochetto, went to court within weeks. It first sought a temporary restraining order to prevent the city from destroying or melting the statue, then filed a formal suit in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas on June 29, 2020.11WHYY. Committee That Paid for Frank Rizzo Statue Wants It Back The city removed the case to federal court, where Judge C. Darnell Jones II dismissed a federal civil rights claim on January 13, 2022, and sent the remaining state-law claims back to state court.12Legal Newsline. Litigation Over Frank Rizzo Statue Removal in Philadelphia Returns to State Court A Kenney spokesperson had initially called the suit a “frivolous cry for public attention” and said the statue “will never stand on City property again.”
The parties settled in August 2025. Under the agreement, the city would return the statue to the committee, relinquish all ownership rights, transport it to a location within Philadelphia or an adjacent county chosen by the committee, and pay $80,000 for damage sustained during removal.13Axios Philadelphia. Philly Frank Rizzo Statue Removal Settlement9City of Philadelphia. Frank Rizzo Statue – Art Commission Submission In exchange, the committee agreed to drop all litigation and accept restrictions on display. On August 13, 2025, the Philadelphia Art Commission voted unanimously to deaccession the statue and authorize its return.14Audacy/KYW Newsradio. Philly to Return Frank Rizzo Statue
The display conditions are strict. The statue must go on private property, positioned inside a building or behind a fence or wall so that it is not visible from the public right-of-way.15The Philadelphia Inquirer. Frank Rizzo Statue Philadelphia Art Commission Agreement The mayor or managing director may grant written exceptions. The committee took on full responsibility for future maintenance, preservation, and security.
Where the Statue Is Now
As of late 2025, the statue remained in city storage, unrepaired, with no confirmed destination. The bronze was damaged near the foot during removal, and Bochetto estimated repairs would cost upward of $75,000. According to Philadelphia Magazine, multiple local foundries have refused the job. Bochetto said “the artistic community has put the word out there that no foundry should repair it,” and Frudakis acknowledged foundries’ fear of vandalism if word got out.16Philadelphia Magazine. Frank Rizzo Statue Philadelphia Lawsuit Frudakis suggested the damage could be left visible, comparing it to the Japanese practice of kintsugi: “The damage is part of the statue’s history.”
Siting is also unresolved. Because the statue depicts Rizzo descending steps, any new installation needs a base that replicates that structure. Attorney Matthew Minsky told the Art Commission, “We first have to get a base, then we have to get a location, and then we’re going to proceed from there.”15The Philadelphia Inquirer. Frank Rizzo Statue Philadelphia Art Commission Agreement Sources told WHYY the likely destination is a private site that still allows some form of public access.17WHYY. Frank Rizzo Statue Relocation
Bochetto has signaled the committee may push further. He told the Philadelphia Inquirer that the group remains in conversations with Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration about a potential future site on public land, saying, “The chapter is not closed on that.”15The Philadelphia Inquirer. Frank Rizzo Statue Philadelphia Art Commission Agreement Any such placement would need separate approval from the Art Commission.