Protest over Portland Police shootings

author: Alex Milan Tracy        e-mail: alexmilantracy@gmail.com

Around 30 people marched from the Hollywood transit centre to the Southeast Portland police precinct in order to demonstrate against the recent continued police involved shootings and deaths. Portland, Oregon, 03/01/2010

The march began just before 9pm, heading to Sandy Blvd. then heading east and south on NE 47th street until it arrived at the precinct.

A number of police cars eventually showed up as the protesters crossed the Banfield expressway on 47th. The police were met with numerous bins blocking their path behind the protest that had been tipped over and sprawled across the road.

One Wells Fargo on Sandy Blvd. was spray painted with an 'Anarchy' symbol whilst another person smashed a window with a brick.

As the protesters approached the Southeast Precinct on Burnside, numerous police in riot gear began to block off the entrances with their cars and heavily armed officers.

The protest, organised last minute, was in response to the recent surge in officer involved shootings.

On Saturday January 1st an officer fired a shot outside a Portland nightclub. His aim, which missed, was at a suspect who killed the bouncer for Club 915, Ruben Mata.

On Monday December 27th police fired a taser, beanbag shotgun and an AR-15 rifle at Southwest Portland man Marcus Lagozzino who was wielding a machete. The suspect remains hospitalised in critical condition.

On Friday December 17th, officers shot at least 16 rounds, killing Darryl Ferguson in the hallway outside his apartment in Southeast, after he reportedly threatened neighbors with a gun that turned out to be a fake weapon.

Mayor of Portland, Sam Adams, who also plays the police commissioner role has said in response to the officer involved shootings that the bureau would remain "dedicated to continued improvement" in maintaing law and order in as "peaceful a way as possible."

Last year saw many deaths from officer involved shootings, concerning but not limited to mentally unstable and homeless people.

On January 29th an unarmed black male, Aaron Campbell was shot in the back with an AR-15 by officer Ronald Frashour whilst he was surrendering to the police. Reportedly officers had removed their ear pieces, shooting first with bean bag rounds then releasing a K-9 attack dog before the fatal shooting.

Jack Collins, a distraught homeless man with self inflicted wounds was shot dead in Hoyt Arboretum on March 22nd after he failed to drop a razor blade he was holding. Four shots were fired with the fatal blow striking an artery in his Pelvis.

James P. Chasse Jr., a 42-year-old man with schizophrenia was knocked to the ground after running from officers who suspected he was urinating in a street. He later died in police custody from blunt force trauma to the chest on September 17th 2006.

Another case of officers not being able to control a situation effectively happened in November when a 12 year old girl was shot with a beanbag on a MAX tram platform after she punched an officer in the mouth whilst they struggled to take her into custody.