L the clackamas print
Shootings spark riot
By James Duncan
The Clackamas Print
On Starch 29, the streets
of downtown Portland were
filled with angry protesters,
many in masks, acting out
against the two most recent
police shootings.
Geoffery Makramara of
the Rose City Cop Watch
said in response to what
happened that day, “The
people of Portland are angry
and fed up and are resisting
police brutality and police
violence in their communi
ties.”
Rose City Cop Watch is
an organization that is com
mitted to building commu
nity power in opposition to
the police violence.
“We do that in a number
of ways,” said Makramara.
”We have engaged in patrols
where we go out on the
streets and observe police
behavior, follow them with
video cameras with the hope
of keeping them accountable
for their actions and also the
hope that them knowing that
they’re being watched and
recorded will reduce their
tendency towards violence
against our communities.”
The Rose City Cop Watch
did not help in coordination
of the protest but was on
scene recording the police
response to the protesters.
Not long after the protest
got started, police were on
scene.
Detective Mary Wheat,
Public Relations Officer
of the Portland City Police
Bureau, said “We still don’t
know what their purpose
was but apparently from
what we could see in the
intelligence
information
that was being put out in
e-mails and blogs was basi
cally to try to get into fights
With the police and to cause
property damage in down
town Portland.”
The protesters left dam
age in their wake. From
pushing large green dump
sters into the streets and
pushing over newspaper
dispensers,
to breaking
a window at the Bank of
America, which will cost
$8,500 to fix.
“They were very aggres
sive with our horses and the
officers riding them. They
threw large rocks, bottles,
locks and tried to punch
some of our officers,” said
Wheat. “They didn’t obtain
a permit, and our job was
to try to allow them to get
their message out in a safe
manner and also to follow
the laws as far as not block
ing traffic ... We respond
to crisis and incidents that
occur in the city of Portland
and our job is to keep the
community safe.”
Kimberly Miller, a fifth-
year student of Clackamas
Community College said,
“Obviously the police had
a pretty important part of
it, but the violence prob
ably didn’t need to happen
with the protesters. There
are other ways to get their
point across and if the police
saw fit to arrest someone
for destroying property or
throwing stuff at the police
officers themselves, then
they had every right to ...
I don’t see just cause in the
protesters’ way of getting
their point across. Quite
frankly destroying property
is not a good way. Violence
is never the right answer.”
Brad Heineke Clackamas Print
Portland Police officers stay on guard downtown after
the notorious protest on March 29. Police said the pro
testers didn’t obtain a permit.
r- staff
the elackamas
print
Co-Editors in Chief:
Veteran fights stre
John Shufelt Clued
-
Veteran Eddie Black presents post combat issues to students in the McLoughlin Auditor]
April 6. Black served as a Marine for five years during Operation Desert Storm.
By Travis Hardin
The Clackamas Print
“If you like what you see here, I
will come talk to you, your family,
your church, your knitting group.
Anyone and everyone, I’ll go talk
to you. I don’t care. I’ll sit in a bar
at the bar stool and talk to you or
whatever. I’ve done a million dif
ferent types of presentation,” said
Eddie Black as over 60 students
and instructors greeted him on April
6 in the McLoughlin Auditorium.
From a glance, Black looks
like your typical college student.
A resident of Beaverton, Black is
in his fifth year at Portland State
University, working towards dual
degrees in psychology and phi
losophy.
Black, however, is not your
typical college student; he is much
more. First off, Black is a combat
veteran. Black joined the Marine
Corps in 1989 after graduating high
school. Black spent the follow
ing five years serving his country
seeing action in Operation Desert
Storm.
It was during his tour in the
Corps that Black was able to travel
the world five different times.
After getting out of the Corps,
Black went off to college and then
the events on Sept. 11, 2001, hap
pened.
“I was on the phone with the
prior service Marine Corps recruit
er out of Portland saying ‘Get me
in.’ That day, ‘Get me in. I want
to go back in.’ [The recruiter] lost
my paperwork or something. And
before you know it President Bush
is on the aircraft carrier saying mis
sion accomplished.”
According to Black, he went
back to college after Bush made
those comments aboard the carrier.
While making his coffee in the
morning, Black would review his
class notes for the day and watch
Ad Manager:
Kayla Berge^John Hurlburt Meredith James
the television as well. He would see
Marines on the screen going house
to house clearing them in Iraq. He
thought the war was over because
of what Bush had said.
According to Black, he looked
into the situation and found out
that there still were a lot of combat
operations occurring over in Iraq
and Afghanistan.
“So I called up the Army, the
Marine Corps, the National Guard
and said ‘Somebody get me some
paperwork. I’ll sign it. I don’t care
who you are.’ The National Guard
was there two days later saying,
‘Here you go we got [the paper
work] right here.’ Boom, I signed
up and became an infantry sol
dier.”
After Black got back home from
the Middle East, he re-enrolled into
college.
Black was fine, nothing was
wrong with him. But he did notice
something wrong among his fellow
soldiers of Charlie Company. Many
of his comrades were taking happy
pills and sleeping pills because they
either were depressed, had trouble
sleeping or had anger issues.
Black saw members with 15,16
or 17 years in the service quitting.
These members only had three to
five years left before they could
fully retire. Alcohol and drug use
was also on the rise.
Black, being a psychology stu
dent, saw these incidents as warn
ing signs while the service, accord
ing to Black, tied these incidents to
a few bad soldiers.
At the time, Black was taking a
class studying anxiety disorders. A
fellow classmate gave Black some
information about a Web site called
Returning Veterans Project and was
made of local psychologists in the
Portland area.
The psychologists provide free
counseling to veterans and their
families for as long as they need
Steven Weldon
Arts & Culture Editor:
Web Editor:
Annemarie Schulte
Brian Steele
News Editor:
Erik Andersen
Associate News Editor:
\
Sports Editor:
Mark Foster
Associate Sports Editor:
it. Black himself spent n
receiving counseling fii
same group.
Black decided to take!
this helpful information ba
National Guard Unit basq
Gresham.
This was the start of wl
is doing todaysBlack offers
for free at different events
out the state.
When asked what then
the Post Traumatic Stress!
presentation was, Greglfl
Vet coordinator at Clack™
“I wanted to bring somera
credibility and education to
lege to share his experiena
When asked how I
out about Black, Myers
met him at another event
through his presentation,»
so impressed with it. I exte
invitation to come to the d
Black was asked after
sentation what was one
wanted people to walk aw
Black replied, “PTSD is
manent. It’s normal to ha
sort of reaction to combat,
able.”
For Black, being a con
eran does come with a stii
“I have people at work]
man whoa, whoa. Doni
angry.’ I was like, ‘You
seen me angry. If you w|
angry, I will show you and
blow up and destroy thl
and then you will see and
you will know that just bed
talking to you like this to a
thing. That this isn’t and
called directness.’”
When asked what shl
about the presentation
Blakesfield, a student who
the event, said “I was so w
with it. With what these
have to deal with, both inj
and when they get back
could never go it.”
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ne
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
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Jackson,
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Kem,
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derland
Goals
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