(EIjc JInrtlanb ©bseruer
May 28.200 3
Page A3
Marchers demand police accountability
continued
from Front
chanting of, “No justice, no peace,
with racist police,” and other say
ings reminiscent o f early civil rights
marches.
The parade stopped briefly at
the intersection o f K illingsw orth
and Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
w here march leaders from the
A lbina M inisterial A lliance and
the NAACP joined hands with
the friends and fam ily o f James.
The energetic drum beats and
chanting o f the crow d all quieted
w hile a speaker called for all po
lice officers who do injustice to
the com m unity to be “rooted
o ut.”
M archers bow ed their heads
and took a m om ent o f silence for
James and other victim s o f police
violence before regaining momen
tum and turning the com er where
the crow d garnered honks from
passing cars - som e o f w hich
held signs o f support out o f
sunroofs.
The May 5 shooting occurred
when Jam es tried to drive aw ay
from a routine traffic stop. The
officer who fired the single shot
said he was partly inside the car
and feared for his life. The gunfire
follow ed police attem pts to bring
her into custody w ith pepper
spray, a stun gun and pulling her
hair.
T he conduct o f p o lice has
cau sed o u trag e in P o rtla n d ’s
African American community and
the city at large.
Jam es had a record for drug
and theft charges and a w arrant
for her arrest w hen she was shot,
but local residents say her past in
no w ay ju stifies her death.
“Everybody does drugs once
in their life,” said Bambi Thom p
son, a m archer who added that
she, too, has had guns pulled on
her by the Portland Police. “Just
because you do drugs d o esn ’t
m ean you have to die for it - at
least not at the hands o f the po
lice.”
T he fee lin g that lo cal p o lic e
are so m etim es trig g e r happy
w hen it com es to d ea lin g w ith
p eo p le o f c o lo r w as ex p re ssed
by m any rally atten d e es w ho
Marchers stretched as far as the eye could see along Martin
Luther King Jr. Boulevard Saturday for the rally in memory of
Kendra James and a call for better police accountability.
Kenneth James, the father o f police shooting victim Kendra James, finds support during
Saturday's march forjustice.
P hoto ry M ark W ashington /T hf . P ortland O bserver
held sig n s th a t said , “ Shoot
N ow , T hink L a te r,” and o th ers
that called for Police C h ief Mark
K ro e k e r’s resig n a tio n .
D is tr ic t A tto r n e y M ike
S chrunk’s decision to use a se
cret grand ju ry to consider pos
sible crim inal charges against the
officer also angered com m unity
leaders who feel the system leans
to the side o f law enforcem ent.
The ju ry last week failed to
indict the officer and that deci
sion further eroded trust in the
justice system.
As the crow d m ade its way
towards the North Skidmore Street
overpass w here Jam es was shot,
the sadness grew as m archers
faced the chain-link fence which
has becom e a m em orial to the
y o u n g w om an w ith flo w ers,
stuffed anim als and balloons.
Event org an izers said they
w ere pleased w ith the turnout,
w hich they estim ated at between
1,500 and 2,000.
P hoto by M ichael L eighton /T he P ortland O bserver
Flawed System Blamed
continued
Sen. Margaret Carter sings 'We Shall Overcome ’ at the
head o f a march for justice Saturday in memory o f Kendra
James, the 21-year-old mother shot and killed by police
during a traffic stop.
P hoto by M ichael L eighton /T he P ortland O bserver
from Front
Chamber o f Commerce and the
Albina Ministerial Alliance met last
week to make a list o f demands.
The groups are calling for public
hearings for all police shootings
cases, a review o f the police
bureau’s diversity and cultural train
ing, more efforts to recruit and re
tain people o f color, a review the
police bureau’s deadly force policy,
the formation o f an independent
police review board with subpoena
power and a study on the "culture
o f the police department,” similar to
studies in Los Angeles and Detroit.
“All these questions are defi
nitely w orthy o f consideration
and m ost o f them are going to be
looked into,” said Tommy Brooks,
spokesman for M ayor Vera Katz’s
office.
The Oregon Senate is consider
ing legislature to change state law,
specifying that deadly force only
be used when apprehending sus
pects o f serious crimes. This bill
would update O regon’s law with a
1985 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that
a Tennessee officer violated an
unarmed teenage burglar’s consti
tutional rights by shooting him as
he ran from the officer.
State Sen. Margaret Carter, D-
Portland and Sen. Avel Gordly, D-
Portland, have vow ed to work
within the system to change the law
and secret grand jury policies.
Portland Peace Response Coali
tion, usually rallying against the
war at Pioneer Courthouse Square,
supported Kendra James by jo in
ing last Saturday’s memorial march,
which began at Alberta Park in
northeast Portland.
"If the police officer was acting
w ithin the state law w hen he
brought Kendra Jam es’ life to an
end, then we have to change state
law,” said Mikel Clayhold, a PPRC
volunteer.
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