Vandals toppled a statue of George Washington in Portland on Thursday, local media outlets reported.
According to KATU2, between 30 and 40 people were at the scene at the German American Society in Northeast Portland on the night of June 18, when the statue was torn down.
Some of the individuals wrapped the head of the statue in an American flag and lit the flag on fire, according to CBS Portland affiliate KOIN-TV. They dispersed shortly after the statue was pulled down.
A video shared by the account @hungrybowtie, which captioned the footage, “They did it. They really did it. Sucks to be George Washington right now...,” showed the moment the statue fell off its plinth and hit the ground, while excited shrieks could be heard from the crowd.
Independent reporter Andy Ngo shared footage taken of the burning flag while the statue was still standing, captioning the post, “Antifa rioters on Sandy Blvd. in Portland draped a US flag over a George Washington statue & set it on fire. They then toppled the statue. “Genocidal colonist” & “f— cops” are sprayed on monument.”
“Rioters have began to build another autonomous zone nearby,” Ngo, an expert on the anarcho-communist group Antifa, added, making reference to Seattle’s so-called “autonomous zone,” from which there have been reports of armed individuals manning checkpoints, checking IDs, even shaking down local businesses.
A man walks by the Conversation Cafe while carrying a firearm in the police-free zone known as the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) on June 15, 2020 in Seattle, Washington. David Ryder/Getty Images
