Rioters toppled statues of Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt in Portland, Oregon, on Sunday night — the latest attacks on monuments in several months of left-wing unrest.
Statue being pulled down a bit ago, posted by this account, which seems to be Tracy Molina. https://t.co/h6xrGqOOtk #Portland pic.twitter.com/Z4vPsGdnht
— Kitty Shackleford (@KittyLists) October 12, 2020
According to OregonLive.com, the statues in the South Park Block were toppled during an “Indigenous Day of Rage.” The nearby Oregon Historical Society Museum was also reportedly attacked.
BREAKING: Oregon Historical Society Museum broken into. I don’t see anyone inside. @fox12oregon pic.twitter.com/GnSZoxI1BK
— Brenna Kelly (@BrennaKellyNews) October 12, 2020
Video of the toppled statues showed they had been vandalized with the words “STOLEN LAND” spray-painted on their bases. The Roosevelt statue was also vandalized with “MURDERER.”
And this one, too. @fox12oregon pic.twitter.com/RfnNgVkjBd
— Brenna Kelly (@BrennaKellyNews) October 12, 2020
Right across the street lay an overturned statue. @fox12oregon pic.twitter.com/wGwsW0o6Zn
— Brenna Kelly (@BrennaKellyNews) October 12, 2020
Tracy Molina, Antifa insurgent, poses with the collapsed statue of Teddy Roosevelt in Portland. pic.twitter.com/BprRY9RnQe
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) October 12, 2020
Portland Police had warned those attempting to topple statues:
A mass gathering has formed at Southwest Park Avenue and Southwest Madison Street, where some are trying to pull down a statue with a chain. To those taking part: anyone involved in criminal behavior, including vandalism, is subject to arrest or citation. (continued)
— Portland Police (@PortlandPolice) October 12, 2020
OregonLive.com reported:
As the crowd gathered, a group threw chains on ropes on the statue, a bronze sculpture officially titled “Theodore Roosevelt, Rough Rider,” as others took a blowtorch to its base and threw red paint on the statue. They began to pull until the statue rocked from side to side before falling down at 8:51 p.m.
The group then turned to the nearby Abraham Lincoln statue, pulling it to the ground at 8:59 p.m. Spray-painted on the base of the statue was “Dakota 38,” a reference to 38 Dakota men executed after the Dakota-U.S. War of 1862, the largest mass execution in a single day in American history.
Afterward, people in the crowd began smashing windows at the Oregon Historical Society, unfurling a banner that read, “Stop honoring racist colonizer murderers.” A mural on the attached Sovereign Hotel building depicting the Lewis & Clark expedition was splattered with red paint.
The crowd then moved through downtown, breaking windows and destroying a sign at the Portland State University Campus Public Safety office and other buildings.
Police did not apparently intervene in time to save the statues or protect the museum.
The protest appeared timed for the eve of Columbus Day, which is observed in some parts of the U.S. on Monday.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). His newest e-book is The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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