Spray-paint-wielding vandals covered an iconic Abraham Lincoln statue in Chicago on Monday with bizarre slogans, some claiming the great emancipator was actually an “executioner.” It was included.
The monument, located near the Chicago Museum of History in the city's Lincoln Park neighborhood, was defaced as part of an apparent protest on Indigenous Peoples Day. According to CBS News.
Some of the messages said, “Lincoln was the executioner,” while others said, “May all empires fall from Turtle Island to Palestine.”
Lincoln's reference is an apparent nod to the 16th president's 1862 order to hang the day after Christmas 38 Dakota men who fought with white settlers in Minnesota.
Lincoln, a lawyer by trade, determined that 39 Sioux were guilty of murder or rape during the riots that year. According to the Associated Press.
He ordered their death sentences while commuting the sentences of 264 others, but later granted another reprieve to one of the defendants, saving him from the gallows.
According to CBS, Turtle Island is also the name of North America used by some indigenous peoples.
Police are still investigating the incident, which likely happened during the night.
No arrests have been made.
This isn't the first time someone has slammed the “Standing Lincoln” statue. A group of anonymous vandals also attacked in October 2022, pouring paint on the monument to draw attention to Indigenous Peoples' Day. According to the Chicago Sun-Times.
The group used similar language and scrawled phrases such as “Off the throne of the colonizers, give us back the land!” “The Revenge of the Dakota 38,” the magazine said.
Born in Kentucky and moved to Illinois in 1830, Lincoln is widely considered one of America's greatest presidents, having abolished slavery and leading the Union to victory over the Confederacy.
