Portland police are investigating whether the playground fire at CAIRO Academy was a bias crime. The facility serves children from immigrant families.
PORTLAND, Ore. — A new children’s playground at an early learning center serving immigrant and refugee families was destroyed in an arson attack early Sunday morning in East Portland.
The fire at CAIRO Academy on Southeast 139th Avenue occurred at approximately 1:48 a.m. Sunday, according to the Portland Police Bureau. Surveillance footage captured a white man at the scene, though investigators have not released the video, according to the Center for African Immigrants and Refugees Organization.
Portland Fire & Rescue contained the blaze before it reached the main building, which houses two early learning classrooms, the organization said. No one was injured.
The Center for African Immigrants and Refugees Organization founded CAIRO Academy to serve children from immigrant, BIPOC and low-income families, according to the group’s statement. The playground had been recently completed after months of community effort.
“This was more than an attack on a structure. It was an attack on childhood, on joy, and on hope,” said Abdikadir Bashir, executive director of CAIRO. “But while we are heartbroken, we are not broken. We are still here. We are still standing. And with the community behind us, we will rebuild, and more determined than ever.”
The Portland Police Bureau’s Major Crimes Unit is investigating whether the incident was a bias crime, according to the agency. The fire was intentionally set, investigators determined.
CAIRO will hold a press conference at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the academy site, joined by educators, families and supporters, the organization announced.
The organization has launched a GoFundMe campaign to help rebuild the playground. Every contribution “is a statement of hope and a promise that this dream will not be extinguished,” the group said in a statement.