Portland protestors deface, knock down Roosevelt, Lincoln statues in ‘rage’ against Columbus Day

Dubbing the day as the ‘Indigenous Peoples’ Day of Rage’, protestors smashed windows at the Oregon Historical Society and damaged a quilt sewn by 15 Black women in the 1970s Portland: Protesters in Portland overturned statues of former Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln and vandalised the Oregon Historical Society in a declaration of “rage” toward Columbus Day. Protest organisers dubbed the event “Indigenous Peoples Day of Rage,” in response to Monday’s federal holiday named after 15th century Italian explorer Christopher Columbus, a polarising figure who Native American advocates have said spurred centuries of genocide against indigenous populations in the Americas. The group Sunday night threw chains around Roosevelt’s statue, officially titled “Theodore Roosevelt, Rough Rider.” They splashed red paint on the monument and used a blowtorch on the statue’s base, news outlets reported. Historians have said Roosevelt expressed hostility toward Native Americans, once saying: “I don’t go so far as to think that the only good Indians are dead Indians, but I believe nine out of every 10 are …” Protesters spray-painted “Dakota 38” on the base of Lincoln’s statue, referencing the 38 Dakota men Lincoln approved to have hanged after the men were involved in a violent conflict with white settlers in Minnesota.