On Thursday night in Portland, Oregon, leftists toppled the statue of President George Washington, setting an American flag on fire on the head of the statue before sending it crashing to the ground. After the statue lay on the ground, another American flag was set afire on top of it.
The leftists, who numbered between 30-40 people, according to KATU, spray-painted “1619,” on the statue, which stood in the lawn of the German American Society; “genocidal colonist” and “f*** cops” were also sprayed on the monument. The pedestal on which the statue stood was spray-painted, “You’re on native land.”
Another flag burning, this time on George Washington’s back. #Portlandprotest #statue #blacklivesmatter #PDXprotests #pdx #oregon #blm #acab #pdx #georgewashington #flagburning#StatuesMustFall pic.twitter.com/diSjnwO3IO
— Garrison Davis (Teargas Glutton) (@hungrybowtie) June 19, 2020
Matt Rashleigh of KOIN tweeted: “The George Washington statue on NE Sandy in #Portland #Oregon has been pulled down and vandalized. Portland Police officers inspected the damage. Someone left a note and a few dollars on it next to the spray painted bronze.”
The George Washington statue on NE Sandy in #Portland #Oregon has been pulled down and vandalized. Portland Police officers inspected the damage. Someone left a note and a few dollars on it next to the spray painted bronze. #koin6news pic.twitter.com/e5LYbDtvMa
— Matt Rashleigh (@Matt_KOIN) June 19, 2020
Andy Ngô, editor-at-large at The Post Millennial, added, “Antifa rioters on Sandy Blvd. in Portland draped a US flag over a George Washington statue & set it on fire. They then toppled the statue. ‘Genocidal colonist’ & ‘f— cops’ are sprayed on monument. Rioters have begun to build another autonomous zone nearby.”
Antifa rioters on Sandy Blvd. in Portland draped a US flag over a George Washington statue & set it on fire. They then toppled the statue. “Genocidal colonist” & “f— cops” are sprayed on monument. Rioters have began to build another autonomous zone nearby. pic.twitter.com/TrZkhPK9zp
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) June 19, 2020
Washington was a legendary figure even in his own time. After transforming an underfunded militia into an army that wound up defeating the greatest military power in the world, through the brutal winter at Valley Forge to the capitulation of the British at Yorktown, it was Washington’s presence that gave the Constitutional Convention enough credibility that the ensuing Constitution was taken seriously. “Be assured,” James Monroe reminded Thomas Jefferson, “his influence carried this government.”
On June 11, Arkansas senator Tom Cotton gave a stirring speech on the floor of the Senate about cancel culture in which he stated:
The cancel culture threatens the very principles of free inquiry and open debate on which our society is based. And you see other manifestations of the cancel culture all across the country today. In many cases they have adopted the spirit of a Jacobin mob in the French Revolution; a Reign of Terror trying to completely erase our culture and our history.
Unfortunately, many Democrats are vying to be the Robespierre for this Jacobin mob. Look at what’s happening in Seattle; revolutionaries, anarchists, have taken over city government buildings; they have taken over neighborhoods; they have declared themselves an “autonomous zone.” They have put up a sign that says you are leaving the United States when you enter this autonomous zone.
The Democratic Party today, I suppose, is still the party of secession.
But it’s not just in Seattle; look at what’s happening to statues and monuments all around the country. In several cities, statues of Christopher Columbus have been torn down. They have been defaced, destroyed. Statues that in most cases were put up by Italian-American immigrants who were proud of their part in the American story. This was not done in accordance with law; it was done after thoughtful debate in city councils or state legislatures, it was done by mobs.
Just last week the Lincoln Memorial, a temple to the Great Emancipator, was defaced. The World War II Memorial, a memorial to those who fought and liberated the world of fascism, was defaced.
Cotton cited the defacing of statues in Philadelphia and Boston of figures who were abolitionists or tributes to black troops who fought on the Union side in the Civil war. He noted, “Just up the mall is the Washington Monument. Are we going to tear the Washington Monument down? Are we going to rename it the ‘Obelisk of Wokeness?’”
Video of Cotton’s speech below:
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