'Lean into scaring them': University of Minnesota professor calls for people to 'decolonize' and 'dismantle' the US

A liberal arts professor at the University of Minnesota apparently suggested that people "decolonize" and "dismantle" the U.S. during an event in support of Palestine. This comes after students and professors around the country have sided with Palestine in Israel's ongoing war with Hamas.

Fox News Digital reported that earlier this month, professor Melanie Yazzie stepped on a stage with a few other speakers as part of the Red Nation, an anti-capitalist Native American advocacy group "dedicated to the liberation of Native peoples from capitalism and colonialism."

Yazzie apparently made some questionable statements during the event, including the suggestion that "we're all indigenous people who come from nations who are under occupation by the United States government."

However, it seems lost on Yazzie that the institution she works for is a publicly funded university, which receives substantial funding from the federal government — the same government she appeared to be criticizing.

She went on: "And, of course, the U.S. bankrolls the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land. They're one and the same, really."

"So it's our responsibility as people who are within the United States to go as hard as possible to decolonize this place, because that will reverberate all across the world," Yazzie said. "Because the U.S. is the greatest predator empire that has ever existed."

She went on to state that she and those on her side "want [the] U.S. out of everywhere," including "Turtle Island" and "Palestine." Turtle Island is a name used by various Native American tribes to describe North America, according to the report.

"And that the goal is to dismantle the settler project that is the United States for the freedom and the future of all life on this planet," Yazzie continued. "It very much depends on that."

Yazzie's controversial statements did not stop there. She went on to suggest that she saw the whole world change after Hamas' terrorist attacks against Israel on October 7, claiming that "Palestine is the alternative path for native nations."

"It is a righteous struggle and it is so powerful that it has literally, in 60 days, changed the entire world," Yazzie said.

"The entire world has changed. I knew it the moment that it happened that nothing, and I mean nothing for colonizers or for any of the good, humble people of the Earth, would ever be the same ever again."

"And we need to lean into that. Lean into the fact that colonizers are scared," she said. "Lean into scaring them and making them feel uncomfortable!"

It is unclear if Yazzie really believes that Hamas is a force of good in the world, and she failed to recognize that Hamas is a terrorist organization which slaughtered 1,200 Israelis on October 7.

Yazzie, Red Nation, and the University of Minnesota did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment on the matter.

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