PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Protesters overturned statues of former Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt in Portland, Oregon, Sunday night in a declaration of “rage” towards Columbus Day.
Protest organizers dubbed the event “Indigenous Peoples Day of Rage,” in response to Monday’s federal holiday named after 15th-century Italian explorer Christopher Columbus.
The group threw chains around Roosevelt’s statue, pulling it down just before 9 p.m. Protesters then turned their attention to Lincoln’s statue, pulling it down about eight minutes later.
Police say windows were broken on several buildings and declared a riot.
Along with Columbus, historians have said both presidents have expressed hostility and racism toward Native Americans.