Some Native Americans protesting Trump trip to Mount Rushmore

BLACK HILLS, S.D. | By STEPHEN GROVES (AP) — President Donald Trump’s plan to kick off Independence Day with a showy display at Mount Rushmore is angering some Native Americans, who view the monument as a desecration of land violently stolen from them.

Several groups led by Native American activists are planning protests for President Trump’s July 3 visit, part of his “comeback” campaign for a nation reeling from sickness, unemployment and social unrest. But it comes amid a national reckoning over racism and a reconsideration of the symbolism of monuments around the globe.

Many Native American activists say the Rushmore memorial is as reprehensible as the many Confederate monuments being toppled around the nation.