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www.portlandobserver.com
Volume XXXX, Number 7
Wednesday • February 17, 2010
bgerlier
Committed to Cultural Diversity
photo by
M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
Local African American leaders and other supporters of justice rally on the Justice Center steps Friday to give attention to the police shooting death of Aaron Campbell,
an unarmed black man shot during a mental health crisis. See Story, page 23 Inside
Shooting Hits Nerve
churches.
On his arrival at Portland Interna
tional Airport on Monday, Jackson
told Ken Boddie o f KOIN 6 in an
exclusive interview that similar po
lice shootings are all too common
across the country, and they need
to stop.
"In the end, it's not about black
and white. It's about wrong and
right, and this is not right," Jackson
said. "This kind o f killing o f un
armed people must be stopped, and
must be deterred by the law."
He echoed calls m ade by the
local leaders for the U.S. D epart
ment o f Justice to open an inves
tigation into the incident.
At press time, both Mayor Sam
Adams and Police Commissioner
Dan Saltzman, also had plans to
National leaders support
ministers’call to action
by J ake
T homas
T he P ortland O bserver
A call to action over last m onth’s
death o f Aaron Campbell, the 25-
year-old, unarmed, black man shot
by police during a mental health
crisis at a local apartment complex
intensified this week as national civil
rights leaders turned their focus to
Portland.
Rev. Jesse Jackson, an iconic
figure from the modem Civil Rights
Movement arrived in Portland Mon
day. He was scheduled to give a
Black History talk at the University
o f Oregon early Tuesday afternoon
and return to Portland Tuesday
evening for a news conference and
rally at Maranatha Church, an Afri
can-A m erican congregation in
northeast Portland.
Jack so n and the R ev. A1
Sharpton, both national civil rights
leaders and former presidential can
didates, have responded to calls
from local black leaders who are
demanding that police be held ac
countable for the death and demand
ing changes in police policies and
tactics.
Jackson said he was invited on
behalfof the Campbell family by the
Albina Ministerial Alliance, the
group representing Portland’s black
Rev. Jesse Jackson
continued
on page 20