Vandals splashed red paint and scrawled graffiti on a well-known statue of Abraham Lincoln in Lincoln Park — for at least the second time in two years.
No arrests have been made since the discovery of the damage at the "Standing Lincoln" statue, in the 1700 block of North Stockton Drive. Police said it was defaced sometime in the overnight hours.
“Lincoln was an executioner," “Land Back," "May all empires fall from Turtle Island to Palestine," and “Remember the Dakota 38” were written around the statue.
The Lincoln Monument behind the Chicago History Museum was defaced earlier. Written around the monument is the following…
— Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere (@TylerLaRiviere) October 14, 2024
“Lincoln was an executioner”, “Land Back”, “May all empires fall from Turtle Island to Palestine”, “Remember the Dakota 38” pic.twitter.com/oBIBAEtqhm
It's not the first time someone has damaged the statue. It was defaced at least once before, in October 2022, when an anonymous group seeking to draw attention to Indigenous Peoples Day claimed credit for pouring paint on the "Standing Lincoln."
The group used similar language in some of its graffiti two years ago, calling the 16th president "a colonizer." Red paint was poured over the statue two years ago, and “Dethrone the Colonizers,” “Land Back!” and “Avenge the Dakota 38” were spray-painted at its base.
At that time, the vandals, calling themselves “resistors of colonial violence," said they wanted to call attention to the public execution of 38 Dakota men during the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862. Lincoln signed the order of execution.
In this year's defacement, no injuries were reported. Area 3 detectives are investigating.
