Statues of Lincoln and Roosevelt destroyed by Portland protesters [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Over 200 Portland demonstrators gathered on Sunday night at the city streets and destroyed the statues of Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt.
• The incident was criticized by several officials, including President Donald Trump and Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler.
• Across the US, protesters have mainly targeted statues that feature slave owners and Confederacy symbols.

Around 200 protesters in Portland, Oregon, flooded the city and destroyed statues of former presidents Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt on Sunday night. They also hampered the Oregon Historical Society entrance as they rallied against the unfair treatment of Native Americans and colonization.

President Donald Trump condemned the incident on Monday morning, calling out the violence as a reason to reelect him on Election Day.

“The Radical Left fools in Portland don’t want any help from real Law Enforcement which we will provide instantaneously,” he wrote on Twitter. “Vote!”, he wrote on Twitter.

He also called the demonstrators “animals” and tagged the FBI for reinforcement.

“Portland, call in the Feds!”, he said.

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler denounced the statues’ demolition. He was joined in a news conference by Native American state legislator Tawna D. Sanchez, who also resides in Portland.

Sanchez said that those who are calling for the change of statues could opt for a peaceful means like city processing. “We don’t have to do it by tearing things down, because it’s not helping,” she said.

A former president, Lincoln is commemorated as the transformational leader who ended slavery in the US. Protesters, however, vandalized his statue with “Dakota 38.” It refers to the largest mass execution in US history, where 38 Dakota Indians were sentenced to death in 1862 after being accused of war crimes.

Lincoln signed the executive order to proceed with the execution, although he expressed concern about the lack of evidence shown at military hearings and the quick verdict that led to the mass hanging of the Indians.

On the other hand, Roosevelt was criticized following his stand on racial hierarchy as well as his role during the Spanish-American War. He also backed eugenics proposals and was remembered for saying that it would be better to eliminate almost all Native Americans.

Aside from destroying the presidential statues, demonstrators were also seen smashing windows and painting other areas with graffiti such as the Oregon Historical Society and several establishments, as reported by local journalists.

The Portland police declared the rally a “riot” and dispersed the protesters later. Police officers had arrested three individuals at the scene.

Protests across the US have largely targeted statues and monuments that feature slave owners and Confederacy symbols. This demonstration, though, destroyed the 1920s statues of Lincoln and Roosevelt included in a protest called “Indigenous Peoples Day of Rage.”

Unrests, sparked by the brutal killing of George Floyd, a Black man who died under Minneapolis police custody in May, overwhelmed Portland in recent months. Floyd’s death fueled outrage against racial injustice and police brutality across the country.

Source: The New York Times