Page 2
September 16, 2015
Week
in
Review
The
Seattle School Strike Ends
A YouTube video shows a Portland Police officer asking a man not to film officers outside the North
Precinct earlier this summer. The photographer was arrested last fall for filming police during a
Ferguson solidarity rally and protest, downtown.
Police Filmer Files Federal Lawsuit
Man was
arrested during
Ferguson rally
A man who films the police has
filed a federal lawsuit against the
Portland Police Bureau and the
city alleging that he was unfairly
arrested for filming officers during
a protest last fall at a Ferguson sol-
idarity rally.
Robert Lee West, a Portland ac-
tivist known for filming police and
running filmthepolice911.com, ar-
gues that Portland police violated
his First Amendment rights pro-
tecting the freedom of the press
and freedom of assembly, assault-
ed him through the use of a flash
bang grenade thrown in his direc-
tion, and falsely arrested him for
disorderly conduct and deprived
him of water upon his arrest.
The demonstration occurred
last November when a grand jury
decided not to indict Officer Dar-
ren Wilson in the fatal shooting of
an unarmed black teen in Fergu-
son, Mo.
West claims his camera was fo-
cused on police actions, and while
doing so, officers threw the “flash
bang” grenade within inches of
him, dispersing a large crowd.
West was then arrested along with
other protesters and accused of
disorderly conduct, but had the
charges dismissed in December.
When he was arrested, West
alleges that he informed officers
Established 1970
P ublisher : Mark Washington, Sr.
E ditor : Michael Leighton
E xecutive D irector : Rakeem Washington
A dvertising M anager : Leonard Latin
Office Manager/Classifieds: Lucinda Baldwin
C reative D irector : Paul Neufeldt
R eporter /P hotographer : Olivia Olivia
of pre-existing health problems
and requested water as he felt
light-headed and had a headache.
When he was taken to the East
Precinct, West claims he suffered
dizziness and an elevated pulse
and blood pressure.
After two hours in custody,
police gave West a citation,
after which he was transport-
ed by ambulance and received
medical care at Legacy Eman-
uel Medical Center. The suit
reports that West was then di-
agnosed with hypertension, de-
hydration, and dizziness. West
wants the city of Portland to
cover his $4,823 in medical
bills and $5,178 in non-eco-
nomic damages for his pain and
emotional suffering.
not made a report.
Murder Trial Begins
The aggravated murder trial of
Joda Cain, 19, charged with kill-
ing his great-grandmother Jac-
queline Bell in her Cedar Hills
home, began Tuesday. Bell was 71
when she was found bludgeoned
to death on her bedroom floor in
early October 2013. Cain’s trial,
which is taking place in Washing-
ton County, is expected to last at
least two weeks.
Striking teach-
ers and the
Seattle public
school
dis-
trict reached
a
tentative
agreement on
Tuesday
to
end a nearly week-long walkout Hillsboro Shooting
that has idled the city’s 53,000 Officials have identified the vic-
students, both sides in the labor tim of a fatal shooting that took
place early Sunday in Hillsboro as
dispute said.
Alonzo S. Gregg, 34. Gregg was
Rape Kits to be Tested
found dead shorting after 2:20
On Thursday the Portland Police a.m. Sunday morning in front of a
Bureau won $2 million in grant strip mall that uses the same park-
funding to go through a backlog of ing as the Hillsboro police station.
nearly 2,000 rape kits going back No arrests have been made.
as far as 1985. The monies would
also pay for investigative follow-up Drowning in Willamette
costs. Rape kits are important in A body found floating in the Wil-
collecting evidence and prosecuting lamette River Sunday has been
rape cases and ensuring repeated identified as Nathaniel Torion, 32,
of Portland. Torion had been re-
sex offenders are tracked.
ported missing and was last seen
Man Jailed in Exposure Case Sept. 1. Officials say the circum-
Authorities arrested a 29-year-old stances of the drowning have not
man Monday after two reported been determined.
incidents of a
West Side Power Outage
male who rode
A downed power line cut elec-
his bicycle up to
tricity to over 3,300 Portland res-
young girls and
idents early Monday morning.
exposed himself
By 11 a.m., workers helped bring
in the Kenton
back electricity to over half of the
Neighborhood of
north Portland. Authorities said affected customers, including Wil-
Eric Garcia, matched the descrip- son High School, which was able
tion of the suspect. Officers be- to power through classes with use
lieve there might be at least one of back-up generators. Most power
more victim in the area who has was restored by the end of the day.
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