Vandals went on an anti-Thanksgiving and anti-colonial crime spree in several US states, smashing and defacing storefronts and toppling a war memorial overnight Thursday.
At least 10 businesses in Portland, including a Chase Bank and the New Seasons Market along Hawthorne Boulevard, had their windows broken and messages like “Pequot Massacre,” “Land back,” “1637” and “F–k thxgiving” spray-painted along their walls, according to local reports.
The LandBack movement is an Indigenous movement against white supremacy, USA Today reported.
The Pequot Massacre refers to the May, 26, 1637 slaughter on the Pequot tribe by Connecticut colonists that left 500 adults and children dead on the banks of the Mystic River.
Protest organizers said Thanksgiving represents colonization, capitalism and gentrification, Oregon Live reported.
Demonstrators also toppled the Soldiers Monument in the city, a 1903 statue created to honor soldiers of the Civil, Spanish-American, Mexican and Indian wars, the outlet said.
Three people were arrested — each on 10 counts of criminal mischief, Portland police said. The damage is estimated to be several thousand dollars.
Protests were also held in Chicago, where demonstrators failed in their attempts to topple a statue of President William McKinley — whose drive for expansionism is now deemed racist and genocidal to Indigenous people — by using a rope tied to a car.
In Spokane, Washington, a statue of Abraham Lincoln was vandalized with red paint, according to KREM.
In Minneapolis, a George Washington monument was toppled and splattered with yellow and red paint and a “Pioneer Statue” was spray-painted with the words “no thanks,” “no more genocide” and “land back,” according to CBS in Minneapolis.
