UPDATE: The Ron Frashour Case

So, according to the Oregonian, lawyers for the city of Portland are arguing that the reinstatement of Ron Frashour, a Portland police officer fired in 2010 for using excessive force on an unarmed black man, Aaron Campbell, who then died from his injuries, would violate many statutes. These include but are not limited to violation of the city charter, the state constitution and also the national constitution. I am very pleased with this news and I hope that the city can continue holding up its decision to fire Frashour. He does not deserve to be reinstated. 


This would be an amazing step towards justice in our city because Portland has had a history of reinstating racist killer cops after they are removed from service. This would be the first time an arbitrators reinstatement decision is ignored and fought. 


For example: In 2009, Portland police officer Christopher Humphreys shot an unarmed 12-year old black girl with a shotgun at close range, on her own doorstep. He was suspended by the city commissioner but later reinstated after the Portland Police Association staged a rally and announced a no-confidence vote taken against the city commissioner and the chief of police.

In 2005, Portland police officer Scott McCollister shot Kendra James, a 21 year old black female and left her handcuffed and bleeding on the street to die. An all White jury found McCollister not guilty of excessive force and he was reinstated after arbitration. 


These are just a few examples of why our police force is out of control and needs to be stopped. They have a history of killing unarmed people of color or people with documented mental disorders and disabilities. And they get away with it.






(Ed. note: Thanks to the Portland Independent Media Center organization for continued vigilance and information on the history of Portland's racist killer cops.)

UPDATE: Protest at City Hall (4/2/2012)

This morning I walked down from my flat to city hall in downtown Portland to attend the protest/rally against the ruling to reinstate Ron Frashour, a Portland police officer who shot an unarmed man in the back with an assault rifle in January of 2010. Frashour had already been fired by the department but an arbitrator recently made the recommendation that he did nothing wrong after an almost two-year battle. 

The protest was fairly well-attended and there were multiple keynote speakerings including the very eloquent Rev. LeRoy Haynes of the Albina Ministerial Alliance, representatives from the Urban League of Portland and many local lawmakers. Haynes urged us on and demanded that we never give up this fight for justice. 


Unfortunately, I noticed some people milling around with signs that had the faces of various members of Socialist groups "for president" pasted on the placards and not one but two people from different so-called Socialist groups came up to me and tried to give me their literature. For the record, I lean Socialist, but their obvious co-opting of the event to spread their propaganda kind of pissed me off. Especially when a super-blonde milktoast beardie guy was trying to explain to me the connection of racial profiling. I've been racially profiled, more than once. I don't need a straight White man to tell me what it is. Another representative that spoke to me was from the Bread and Roses Center, a location of the Freedom Socialist Party, and I have had dealings with them when working for the Portland Queer People of Color group and Las Mujeres de La Raza (associated with M.E.Ch.A.). Basically they wanted our support as tokenism, which of course none of us were okay with. Shockingly, all these people with their magical flyers disappeared as the keynote speakers began, which I felt really spoke to their true agenda. Thanks guys.

I know I am digressing, but that really set the tone for my day and was really disappointing. I am, however, very grateful for the White allies and allies from other communities of colour that were truly present. I only hope that as we continue to protest this ruling, more people can join us in our demand for justice and racial equality in Portland. 
Signing off, 
Fuck la policia!