Sunday night protesters took down a statue of the namesake of Jefferson High School, Thomas Jefferson, America’s third president who also owned over 600 slaves during his lifetime.
Jefferson High School was the beginning point for a march Sunday evening, organized by Rose City Justice to protest police violence and the killing of George Floyd.
Speakers told the crowd that gathered at Jefferson that they had decided to hold Sunday’s march, which went from the high school to Alberta Park, in a historically black neighborhood that had been gentrified.
At about 7:15 p.m., the crowd of over a thousand left Jefferson to march to the park. By the time they returned, a statue of Thomas Jefferson had been dismantled.
According to a woman who witnessed the event but would not give her name, a group used ropes and an ax to pull the statue down. The statue fell on its side and a dent was visible in the concrete where it fell.
Some protesters put it back in a seated position, but later, it was knocked back down.
It was unclear when the statue was taken down, but after 10 p.m. when dozens of protesters streamed back onto the football field at Jefferson High School, the statue was no longer standing.
The crowd cheered as an organizer announced: “There’s an interesting piece of history up here... Mr. Thomas is all beside himself.”
“We’re taking this city back," the organizer said, "One school at a time. One racist statue at a time.”
-- The Oregonian
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Protesters take down Thomas Jefferson statue in front of Portland high school - OregonLive
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