MILWAUKEE, Wis. – The Cesar Chavez statue in front of El Rey grocery store on Milwaukee's South Side was taken down Friday following allegations of sexual abuse and assault against the late labor organizer.
Ernesto Villareal, an El Rey co-founder said he was shocked by the news and felt taking down the statue was the right thing to do. Villareal said the statue will be melted, and the profits made from the copper will go to the United Farm Workers.
Watch: Milwaukee business owner reflects on Chavez statue removal, calls for new tribute to farmworkers
This week, a New York Times investigation reported allegations from multiple women who say they experienced sexual abuse or assault by Chavez, including some when they were children.
One of the women who came forward is Dolores Huerta, a labor leader who co-founded the United Farm Workers alongside Chavez. A mural of Huerta stands on S Cesar Chavez Drive, only a couple of blocks away from where the statue was located.
Tributes to Chavez have been vandalized, covered, or removed across the country. For nearby business owner and south side resident, Adrian Lynch, seeing the empty spot is a full-circle moment. He attended the unveiling of the Chavez statue in 2016.
"There was so many people that we were so far back," Lynch said. "When these allegations happen, I did feel sad, but I also feel that the movement is bigger than one person.”
Lynch owns Reinas Cafe on the South Side. He said the business helps fund a girls volleyball club that he started five years ago, which has 96 girls in it. He said the news struck a chord.
"I work with Latina girls from a young age, and when you hear some of the things that happened, you feel angry," Lynch said. "That's where I felt heartbroken and devastated that someone could take advantage of a young person.”
Lynch thinks Chavez Drive could be changed to Dolores Huerta Way and that a new statue needs to go up to memorialize the farm workers' movement.
"Maybe not one person, but maybe a sculpture of many migrant workers," Lynch said.
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