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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 24, 2020)
Introducing Rutherford Park Juneteenth Elevates Significance First Portland park named for black woman As day becomes holiday, NFL star leads youth on justice march See Local News, page 3 Established in 1970 See story, page 2 PO QR code Volume XLVIV • Number 15 ‘City of Roses’ www.portlandobserver.com Wednesday • June 24, 2020 Committed to Cultural Diversity Toppled in Protest Jeremy Christian Killer Taunts Victim photo by M ichael l eighton /t he p ortland o bserver A historic bronze statute commemorating the namesake for Jefferson High School sits on the ground awaiting transport to school district storage on Monday, June 15, after being toppled one night earlier during a protest against police brutality and racism. pendence, but also a slave owner. Some members of the school communi- ty have advocated for the statute’s removal along with the name of the school, others want the Jefferson High School name pre- served because of its long history as Port- land’s most diverse high school serving African American families for generations. Jefferson High School alumnus Clif- ford Walker has led community efforts to remove the Jefferson name and statute for several years, saying a slave owner isn’t an appropriate centerpiece for the histori- M ichael l eighton p ortland o bserver e ditor Sentencing for the Jeremy Christian, the racist-spewing Max rider convicted of killing two men and injuring a third as they defended two black teenagers he was verbally assaulting on a MAX light rail train in 2017 was delayed on Tuesday after Christian was thrown out of court for going on a tirade against the first victim who spoke. Demetria Hester was testifying about her encounter with Christian the day before the fatal stabbings on a different Max train when he threatened to kill her for being a black woman and struck her in the eye with a bottle. c ontinued on p age 4 c ontinued on p age 4 Community healing is priority now, principal says A historic bronze statute commemorat- ing the namesake for Portland’s Jefferson High School has sparked new conversa- tions about the appropriate name for the school and its future after the statute was toppled to the ground during a June 14 pro- test over police brutality and racism. A crowd of several hundred people had gathered for a Black Lives Matter demon- stration to hear speeches and participate in a planned march to Alberta Park, located several blocks to the east on Northeast Killingsworth Street. But when the march- ers moved away from the school, another splinter group descended and tore down the statute, school officials said. Automobile tire tracks could be seen nearby, indented into the all-weather ath- letic track that surrounds the football field, the apparent evidence that a vehicle was used to help pull the statute down. Jefferson High School Principal Mar- garet Calvert said the goal now for school leaders is to promote community healing. Calvert acknowledged that in recent years both the statute and name for the school have become more controversial because of the historical context to Thomas Jefferson, the nation’s third president and the author of the U.S. Declaration of Inde- Heated exchange delays Christian sentencing by