Best Run Ever
Warriors
dominate
post season
to win title
‘City
of
Roses’
Volume XLVI • Number 24
See story, page 8
Solutions and
Best Practices
Forum tackles
youth and
justice issues
See Metro, page 11
www.portlandobserver.com
Wednesday • June 14, 2017
Established in 1970
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Photo by C hrista M C i ntyre /t he P ortland o bserver
Good in the Hood festival organizer Shawn Penney is staying strong in the wake of a racist letter that threatened violence at the upcoming June 23-25 multicultural
festival and against him personally. With added security by Portland police and a diverse community that refuses to buckle from fear and intimidation, a decision was
made that the 25th Hood in the Good evemt will go on as planned.
‘Good in the Hood’
festival will go on
C hrista M C i ntyre
t he P ortland o bserver
The multicultural Good in the Hood festival will go on
as scheduled next weekend despite threats of violence as
leaders from the diverse communities who participate in
the annual celebration look toward increased security for
the event, refusing to buckle to fear and intimidation.
The FBI, US Attorney’s Office of Oregon and Portland
Police have taken steps to boost security at the June 23-25
festival and parade in the wake of a racist letter to Good in
the Hood organizers that threatened a “blood bath” at the
25th annual event.
Good in the Hood is the largest multicultural art, music
and food festival in the Northwest.
The community event is run by a non-profit board and is
sponsored by the Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods,
by
Staying
Strong
the group which received the threatening letter on June 7.
On the outside of the envelope was a picture of robed Ku
Klux Klan members, a burning cross and what looked like
an image of President Trump. The letter also appeared to
have a blood stain on the back with a Band-Aid and the
words “rush” written on it.
Good in the Hood President Shawn Penney said a
NECN worker put on rubber gloves to open the letter. He
then heard screams coming from another room as neigh-
borhood representatives and festival volunteers began to
read what was inside.
The letter was typed in all caps with many misspellings,
racial slurs, and death threats. It also threatened Penney
personally by describing the type of weapon that would be
used for the effect of intimidation.
“I asked, what is a .30-06?” Penney said. Then, realiz-
ing it was a hunting gun, like the one that killed President
John F. Kennedy, he shuttered at the thought.
“The U.S. District Attorney that’s assigned to the case
called me and we talked for about two hours on the phone,”
Penney said. “He gave me tips and advice on staying safe
and said that an FBI agent was on his way to pick up the
letter. We have never received a threat like this before at
all. Never.”
Good in the Hood organizers actually started planning
for better security for this year’s event when southeast
Portland’s 82nd Avenue of Roses Parade was abruptly
cancelled in April because of possible conflicts between
C ontinued on P age 4