PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Protests calling for racial justice and against police brutality continue in Portland, this time taking place downtown Wednesday evening for a “2nd year memorial and celebration of life” in the name of Patick Kimmons, who was shot to death by police in 2018.
Letha Winston, Kimmons’ mother, spoke to a gathering of people at Pioneer Courthouse Square beginning at 6 p.m. An hour later, the group marched to the corner of SW 4th and Harvey Milk Street — the spot where Kimmons was killed.
Kimmons, 27, was shot and killed by Portland police on Sept. 30, 2018. The investigation into his death revealed that moments before officers fired at him, Kimmons shot 2 people during a fight. According to police, Sgt. Garry Britt and Officer Jeffery Livingston both shot Kimmons. They said he was armed and refused to listen to commands.
A grand jury ruled that the officers’ actions were justified. However, Kimmons’ mother is still fighting for officers to change their use-of-force protocol.
The hundreds of people who gathered for the march and vigil on Wednesday called for the investigation into his death to be reopened. Also on Wednesday, Portland city commissioners heard from a team committed to independent reviews of officer-involved shootings and in-custody deaths. The team, called the OIR Group, also makes recommendations for change.
“I know you’ve been recommending ever since you started doing this, is a change in the Police Review board,” said City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty. “Unfortunately, that is one of those things on the list that won’t change in our lifetime unless we change oversight of policing and we are on a path to do that.”
Police arrest 1 as group gathers outside Kelly Penumbra Building
Tuesday night saw a crowd congregate outside the Penumbra Kelly Building in Southeast Portland. One arrest was made overnight and through the course of the evening police said they confiscated items from two vehicles such as shields, helmets, gas masks, CO2 cans and paintball guns.
Mayor Ted Wheeler announced he wants to withdraw consent for the deputization of some of the city’s police officers. But the US Marshals Office declined to cancel the cross-deputization of those officers.
A total of 56 Portland officers and 22 Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office deputies were deputized by the U.S. Marshal’s Service ahead of a right-wing demonstration and counter-protests over the weekend.
The designation entails a Portland police officer can arrest someone for a federal crime and hand to a federal prosecutor instead of a state or county prosecutor. The status is valid through the end of 2020.
