Statue of enslaved Black member of Lewis and Clark expedition toppled and damaged
CBSN
A statue in Portland, Oregon, commemorating York, an enslaved Black member of the Lewis and Clark expedition, has been toppled and damaged, officials said.
A spokesperson with Portland Parks and Recreation told CBS affiliate KOIN-TV the bust was torn from its pedestal and significantly damaged Tuesday night or early Wednesday. A park visitor notified a maintenance worker on Wednesday. The bust mysteriously appeared in February on a pedestal in a park in southeast Portland where a statue of Harvey Scott, a conservative and longtime editor of The Oregonian who opposed women's suffrage, stood until it was torn down. It remains unclear who created or placed the bust of York.Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.