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