"Peaceful protesters" in Portland toppled a statue of George Washington and set fire to an American flag on its head.
In the wake of George Floyd's death, confederate statues have been vandalized and torn down across the nation.
Now, many of the founding fathers such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson have also come under scrutiny.
Both men owned slaves, as was common during those times.
Though no nation's history is perfect, America's story is one of triumph and the pursuit of freedom and liberty for ALL men.
Today, we continue the fight to ensure that everyone enjoys equal freedom and justice under the law.
But far left radicals are determined to destroy statues and undermine the foundations of this country.
Calls to "defund the police" have grown louder, and claims of "systemic racism" threaten the very foundation of our institutions.
More details on the tearing down of George Washington's statue below:
Protesters burned an American flag on George Washington's head before toppling the statue.
This is why so many people view the protests as anti-American.
While we believe that ALL lives matter equally, some people have attempted to hijack the movement in order to bash the police, the founding fathers, and our country.
CNN has more details on the toppled statue:
A crowd of protesters gathered around a statue of George Washington in Portland, Oregon, on Thursday night and lit a fire on its head before pulling it to the ground.
Photos and video from the scene showed that the statue was spray painted with "Genocidal Colonist," "You're on native lands," "BLM" and "Big Floyd" -- presumably referring to George Floyd, who died last month at the hands of Minneapolis police.It was also tagged with 1619, which is a reference to the year the first slaves were brought to what is now the United States.
Portland Police said the group ran off and there have been no arrests.
On Sunday, protesters pulled down a statue of Thomas Jefferson outside of a Portland high school named after the third president and spray painted "slave owner" and George Floyd's name on its base, CNN affiliate KOIN reported.
Both Washington and Jefferson owned hundreds of slaves during their lifetimes.
Police said hundreds of people held a peaceful rally on Thursday night outside Jefferson High School. Many people there told KOIN that they were ending that event early to rest up for Friday's Juneteenth celebrations commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.
People around the country are reconsidering the legacies of the founding fathers and other historic figures in response to the massive Black Lives Matter protests against systematic racism and injustice.
While the media likes to portray Trump and his supporters as divisive, the reality is that far left radicals are destroying our shared history.
That history is what led to the American values of freedom and justice.
Yet... protesters in Portland tried to destroy monuments to that great history.
It is being reported that the city of Portland will not spend taxpayer money to repair or replace the statue.
These protests have gone beyond George Floyd.
Many radicals have hijacked the protests to bash America.
Destroying our shared values and shared history will not bring back George Floyd.
The Western Journal has more details on an editorial piece that Tucker Carlson wrote for Fox News:
The statue had stood for almost 100 years, according to Newsweek.
It was part of the City of Portland and Multnomah County Public Art Collection.
In a recent opinion piece, Fox News host Tucker Carlson decried the spasm of iconoclasm gripping liberal America. He noted that calls have been made for years to tear down such vital monuments as the Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorial in the nation’s capital.
“How many lives will be saved by destroying the Jefferson Memorial?” he wrote. “How many are saved by desecrating war graves? None, of course. This is about political power, achieved by the oldest means of all: force.
“This is an attempt to delegitimize you and the society you live in. You think you live in a country with freedom of speech, freedom of religion, equality under the law? Well, tough luck. The documents celebrating those rights were written by bigots. We tore their statues down. Now we’re in charge.
“Even now, only 32 percent of Americans want Civil War statuary torn down. How about desecrating war graves? There isn’t polling on the subject, but it’s hard to believe there is a groundswell of support.
“All this is happening because a violent mob is forcing its agenda down the throat of the country. Our leaders — very much including Republican leaders — are too cowardly to resist them.”
It will be interesting to see what President Trump says about the protests at tonight's Tulsa rally.
Tonight's MAGA rally is the first once since COVID-19 spread across the nation.
Since then, George Floyd's death and civil unrest have dominated the news cycles.
President Trump will likely address those issues during tonight's electrifying speech.
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