While families across the U.S. were celebrating Thanksgiving with scaled-down gatherings or Zoom calls, protesters were toppling historical statues and monuments.
In Washington state, the Spokane Police Department reported that a statue of 16th President Abraham Lincoln was vandalized with red paint, while multiple colonial statues — including one of George Washington — were defaced and toppled overnight in Minneapolis.
“No more genocide” and “all colonizers are bastards” were scrawled in red graffiti on the works.
The Pan-Indigenous People’s Liberation (PIPL) network took responsibility for the move and explained in a statement that it was partly in response to a callout for a “national decolonial day of action.”
The American Indian Movement had previously pulled down a statue of explorer Christopher Columbus outside the state capitol.
Portland, Ore., protesters tagged local markets and a monument dedicated to the veterans of the Civil War, Mexican, Spanish and Indian wars with anti-colonialist rhetoric.
Local law enforcement arrested three suspects at Portland’s Lone Fir Cemetery.
The Midwestern hub of Chicago witnessed a similar effort, though protesters ultimately failed to knock down a park statue of President William McKinley on Wednesday.
The words “land back” were painted in multiple cities, referring to the LANDBACK campaign. The indigenous movement aims to develop communities in a sustainable manner, defend American land and fight against White supremacy.
“We must continue to decolonize our minds, communities, and sovereign nations,” LANDBACK says in its mission statement. “The decolonization of our communities and people is directly related to our ability to prosper.”
“Through the revitalization of our Indigenous ceremonies, culture, languages and life ways we will continue to strengthen our identity, and break free from the oppressive systems that disconnect us from achieving the healing growth and connection to spirit that is integral for us as Indigenous people,” they wrote.
As citizens took to the streets in droves following the police killing of George Floyd, state and local governments were forced to make decisions over whether to remove Confederate statues and monuments that — in some cases — had been standing for over a century.
Over the summer, the Democratic-led House of Representatives voted to remove Confederate statues from the U.S. Capitol.
Julia Musto is a reporter for Fox News Digital. You can find her on Twitter at @JuliaElenaMusto.
