Protesters knock down Roosevelt, Lincoln statues in Portland

PORTLAND, Ore. — Protesters in Portland overturned statues of former Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln and vandalized the Oregon Historical Society in a declaration of “rage” toward Columbus Day.

Protest organizers dubbed the event “Indigenous Peoples Day of Rage,” in response to Monday’s federal holiday named after Italian explorer Christopher Columbus.

The group Sunday night threw chains around Roosevelt’s statue, titled “Theodore Roosevelt, Rough Rider.” They splashed red paint on the monument and used a blowtorch on the statue’s base, news outlets reported.

The statue was pulled down by the crowd just before 9 p.m. The group later turned their attention toward Lincoln’s statue, pulling it down about eight minutes later.

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.

After toppling the statues, the crowd smashed windows at the Oregon Historical Society and later moved on to the Portland State University Campus Public Safety office. A quilt sewn by 15 Black women from Portland in the mid-1970s was among the items damaged, Oregon Historical Society executive director Kerry Tymchuk said Monday in a statement.

Three people were arrested, police said.

SEAN MEAGHER/THE OREGONIAN VIA AP Statues of Abraham Lincoln (above) and Theodore Roosevelt were toppled in Portland, Oregon, late Sunday.