George Funmaker News Today

Protestors erected gallows in front of the giant penny at Lincoln Park in Downtown Long Beach Monday as part of a protest to demand the park be renamed because of President Abraham Lincoln’s role in ordering or overseeing the deaths of Native Americans.

Any new name for the park should “be discussed in consultation with the Native Americans of the land on which we live, the Tongva people,” according to a letter from the Equity and Human Relations Commission.

One advocate for changing the name said a lot of people see Lincoln as a “hero,” many Native Americans view him more like a villain.