PORTLAND, Ore. — During a demonstration at North Portland's Jefferson High School on Sunday, protesters toppled the Thomas Jefferson statue outside of the school.
Earlier in the day, someone had tagged the statue's podium with the words "slave owner." Jefferson owned hundreds of slaves throughout his life.
A group of several thousand had gathered at the school Sunday afternoon to protest police brutality and systemic racism as demonstrations continue in the wake of George Floyd's death in police custody.
Many of the people in the group marched to Alberta Park at about 6 p.m., where they assembled for several hours. But some in the group stayed behind at the school and took down the statue.
The act was caught on video and shared by Portland's Resistance on Sunday night.
The statue was still lying on the ground Monday morning.
