THE FASH <<Dan Tooze spent most of the day on Aug. 22, 2021, sporting a Proud Boys T-shirt and body armor. Like many in the group, Tooze was armed — a wooden baton in hand and a pistol on his belt. He was in Portland’s Parkrose neighborhood for a rally held by the violent, extremist …
Category Archives: News and Analysis
3/25/2023 News Roundup
COPS AND QUEERS <<The announcement last month that Portland had earned a perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign’s 2022 municipality equity index raised a few eyebrows. For one thing, the index claims the city’s police force has something it doesn’t: an LGBTQ+ advisory council. It shuttered in January 2022. The Human Rights Campaign gave …
3/23/2023 News Roundup
GANG SQUAD/GUN SQUAD <<In 2018, the City Auditor’s Office issued a pair of reports on Portland Bureau’s Gang Enforcement Team. The team has since been disbanded, replaced first by the short-lived Gun Violence Reduction Team and then the Enhanced Community Safety and Focused Intervention Teams, which still exist. That shouldn’t free the bureau from addressing …
3/19/2023 News Roundup
PPB EMPLOYEE ARRESTED <<An administrative employee for the Portland Police Bureau is facing criminal charges for allegedly hindering the prosecution of her husband on manslaughter charges. In a statement Friday, the bureau said police have arrested 38-year-old Bruce Chirre for the 2021 killing of Jack Dekker in Portland’s Goose Hollow neighborhood. Chirre faces charges of …
3/11/2023 News Roundup
SHOOTING <<A grand jury has ruled that Roseburg police officers were justified in using deadly force when they shot and killed a man at an overnight warming shelter last week. Douglas County District Attorney Rick Wesenberg said state police first spotted the 20-year-old Grants Pass man walking on the shoulder of I-5 near Roseburg on …
3/10/2023 News Roundup
HOMELESSNESS <<Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler has confirmed that the first of six planned large-scale sanctioned homeless camping sites will be located in inner Southeast Portland on a vacant lot near Powell Boulevard and 13th Avenue. Wheeler detailed the site selection at a news conference Thursday morning, and he also announced that the city has partnered …
3/9/2023 News Roundup Part 2
RACIAL PROFILING <<Jordan Dinwiddie, Eberechi Onyenze, Ramone Palmore, Nathaniel Poe and Larry Wright say they were discriminated against for shopping while Black.>> Dinwiddie is one of more than a dozen clients on whose behalf the Kafoury & McDougal law firm is filing lawsuits in Multnomah County Circuit Court in the coming weeks. The lawsuits name …
3/9/2023 News Roundup Part 1
3/9/2023 News Roundup NORMANDALE <<The man accused of shooting five people, killing one, near Portland’s Normandale Park last year pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and other charges on Wednesday in Multnomah County Circuit Court. Benjamin Smith, 44, faces the potential of life in prison. He’ll be sentenced on April 18. Victims will get to make …
3/4/2023 News Roundup
THE FASH <<Proud Boys member Tusitala “Tiny” Toese was found guilty on 10 charges related to an August 2021 “patriot” rally, the Multnomah County district attorney’s office announced this week. Toese was found guilty on March 2 of two counts of second-degree assault, two counts of third-degree assault, two counts of unauthorized use of a …
3/3/2023 News Roundup
RIOT COPS <<A yearlong investigation into how an image glorifying violence against protesters made it into Portland police training materials has finally produced results—and more questions. Last week, the city suspended Portland Police Sgt. Jeff McDaniel for 10 days without pay after concluding he was “more likely than not” responsible for inserting the meme, which …