Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Legal Commentary Blogs -> Althouse

Legal Commentary

: Althouse

"A group of protesters toppled statues of former presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln and shattered the entrance to the Oregon Historical Society in Portland?s South Park Blocks..."

"... late Sunday before moving into other areas of downtown, smashing storefronts and engaging in other acts of destruction. Police declared the event a riot and ordered people rampaging through the city?s streets to disperse but did not directly intervene until nearly an hour after the first statue fell. The crowd scattered when police cruisers flooded the area, and officers in tactical gear appeared to make several arrests. Protest organizers had promoted the event on social media as an 'Indigenous Peoples Day of Rage.'...  The organizers had signaled their aggressive stance for the night, calling for 'direct action' and demanding that the video live-streamers and photographers who had become staples of such events stay away.... The group, about 200 strong, marched through downtown Portland, at one point occupying all four lanes of West Burnside Street. Most dressed head-to-toe in black. Many wore body armor, carried shields or wielded night sticks and other weapons. As the crowd reached the South Park Blocks, some threw chains on ropes on the Roosevelt statue, a bronze sculpture officially titled 'Theodore Roosevelt, Rough Rider,' as others took a blowtorch to its base and splattered it with red paint. They began to pull until the statue rocked from side to side before falling down at 8:51 p.m. The crowd erupted in cheers as dance music played on a large portable speaker....  The group then turned to the nearby Abraham Lincoln statue, pulling it to the ground at 8:59 p.m.... After toppling the statues, some protesters 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...."

Full post as published by Althouse on October 12, 2020 (boomark / email).