August 12, 2015
Page 5
NAACP leader says police used excessive force on sister
Eugene
incident under
investigation
(AP) -- The president of an
NAACP chapter contends Eugene
police used excessive force on his
sister after she tried to stop an of-
ficer from deploying a Taser on her
19-year-old son.
Eugene-Springfield
NAACP
President Eric Richardson said Ay-
isha Brown called a mental health
service early July 16 because her
son was having a psychotic break-
down. The assistance team could
not respond, and police officers
arrived.
Richardson, who said he wit-
nessed the incident, said Brown
hugged her agitated son to prevent
an officer from using the stun gun.
An officer, who was white,
threw Brown to the ground, put a
knee in her back and arrested her,
Richardson said. His sister, he said,
suffered a concussion and has back
and knee problems.
Richardson said he raised his
hands and identified himself as the
chapter president of the NAACP.
He said the officers told him he
was at risk of being tased.
“I asked everyone to calm down,
and I don’t believe my efforts were
respected,” he said.
Richardson said he has spoken
with Police Chief Pete Kerns about
the incident, and those talks have
gone well. Richardson said his
goals are to improve police training
and transparency, while boosting
resources for mental health.
“I want to be as positive as pos-
sible, while at the same time show-
ing that I felt the whole situation
that happened to my sister was un-
booked into jail on a misdemeanor
charge of interfering with police.
She was released the same day, and
prosecutors declined to file formal
charges.
Kerns told KLCC radio in an
interview that the police officers
“went there with the best of in-
tentions, to help the mom and the
19-year-old son who were in need
of emergency services.”
“Responding to an incident,
with a full-grown, strong, athlet-
ic man who is in a mental health
break, and whose behavior is un-
predictable, is a very, very difficult
thing to do,” he said.
Kerns also said he could under-
stand why the mother did not want
to let go of her son.
Although Kerns defended the
police officers as doing the best
they could to control things, he
said it would be inappropriate
to say whether they followed
policy until an investigation is
concluded.
Kerns also said he doesn’t be-
lieve race was a factor.
He and Richardson, howev-
photo by R yan K ang of the O regon D aily E merald
er, see eye-to-eye on the issue of
Eugene NAACP President Eric Richardson addresses a rally for justice for Trayvon Martin in this ar-
mental health. “Our hope is that,
chives photo from the civil rights group’s website.
together with NAACP and others,
just,” he said in a phone interview swore at the officer and repeatedly eventually deployed the stun gun we can create greater mental health
Tuesday.
mumbled to him that he was not a and handcuffed the son, according care capacity and better ways to
According to a recording of a real officer, according to the video to the report.
care for people whose lives would
Police and jail records obtained benefit from those services,” Kerns
911 call released by Eugene police, released by the police. The report
the son was yelling and swearing also says the son was crowding the by The (Eugene) Register-Guard
C ontinued on P age 14
at Brown, did not recognize her officer and had nudged his shoul- newspaper show Brown was
as his mother and believed he was der twice with his hand.
Another officer then told the son
trapped inside the house. A sec-
ond caller, who talked with Brown to step back or he would get tased,
some time later, told dispatchers and Brown wrapped her hands
around her son and asked the of-
that the son was choking Brown.
When officers arrived at ficer not to tase him, according to
Brown’s house, according to the the report. The officer asked her to
police report, the son appeared ag- step back, but she did not comply.
itated and stared at one of the offi- When the son started “moving ag-
cers with an angry expression. He gressively” toward the officer, he
Voting Rights Act Turns Fifty
Secretary of
State issues
proclamation
Oregon Secretary of State
Jeanne P. Atkins invited Orego-
nians to join her Thursday to com-
memorate the Voting Rights Act.
50 years to the day it was signed
into law by President Johnson on
Aug. 6, 1965.
The Act outlawed discriminato-
ry voting practices, such as litera-
cy tests and poll taxes, which were
adopted by states after the Civil
War to prevent African-Ameri-
cans from registering and exercis-
ing their right to vote. It also es-
tablished new legal protections for
minority voters at the polls.
“At a time when politicians in
many states around the country
are acting to suppress the voting
rights of minorities, youth and the
working to make it even easier for
Oregonians to become voters and
cast their ballots.”
Oregon has a long-standing
tradition of ensuring voting is ac-
cessible, convenient, and secure.
In 1998, Oregon led the nation
with Vote-by-Mail system for all
elections and became the national
model for making voting as acces-
sible as possible.
“Once again we are leading
the nation with the Oregon Motor
Voter Act” Atkins said. “This pro-
gram will make it easier for every
eligible Oregon citizen to be regis-
tered to vote.”
As it was 50 years ago, and as
it has been since the founding of
our nation, “the fate of our democ-
racy depends on preserving and
upholding access to the ballot,”
Jeanne P. Atkins
Atkins said.
To learn more about registering
disadvantaged, Oregon stands out
as a beacon of inclusiveness and to vote and casting a ballot in Ore-
fairness,” Atkins said. “We are gon, visit OregonVotes.gov.