Portland to let public decide what happens to monuments toppled, torn down during 2020 BLM, Antifa riots

On Wednesday, the city of Portland, Oregon released a survey, calling on the public to help "determine the fate" of five monuments toppled or removed during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests.

A final decision is expected to be made by City Council in July 2024.

The survey begins as most do by asking participants to divulge their race and disability status. It then dives right in with a question about how monuments in general can "promote equity and inclusion," or "prevent equity and inclusion."

It also asks how the city can "use public spaces and public art to hold memory and tell historical stories," and which principles and best practices should guide future decisions.

The survey then gets more specific, showing pictures of all five monuments in question and asking what should be done about them.

Participants are given six choices: "Bring it back into the public sphere as is," "Bring it back into the public sphere with more context or interpretation," "Do not bring it back," "I need to know more to decide," "I don't care," and "Other."



The monuments of Harvey Scott, Abraham Lincoln, "Promised Land," Thomas Jefferson, and Theodore Roosevelt, were either knocked over by protestors or removed out of an abundance of caution by the city in 2020. 

They were then transported to a storage facility, where they sat, and will remain sitting, "until there has been sufficient public engagement to inform City Council's decision about the future of monuments in Portland."

Response to the city's decision on social media was mixed, with many slamming officials for their response to the vandalization of monuments depicting important people and moments in the nation's history.

"How come the only opinion that counted when the statues were damaged, toppled or removed in 2020 were those of violent BLM-Antifa militants?" Andy Ngo asked.

"You let them bring ropes and vehicles to destroy property that belonged to the public. When that didn’t succeed, the City removed statues for them. Not a single person was convicted for the organized vandalism. And it's still happening. Over Thanksgiving, Antifa toppled another veterans memorial."

"This survey is the sickest and most divisive woke garbage I've ever seen," another user added.