M artin L uther K ing J r .
2021 special edition
Page 16
First Muslim Lawmaker
Multnomah and Clackamas county
commissioners unanimously voted
last week to appoint Kayse Jama, the
executive
director
of the racial justice
organization Unite
Oregon, to a vacant
Oregon
senate
seat
representing
east Portland. He
becomes the first
Muslim to hold office
in the Senate.
The
Week Review
in
January 13, 2021
Matching its historic vote for Joe Biden
for president in November, Democrats
Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock,
won both Georgia Senate seats last
week in a special runoff election — and
with them, the U.S. Senate majority,
dramatically improving the fate of
Biden’s progressive agenda.
Destructive Justice March
A march for justice in solidarity over
the officer-involved death of Jacob
Blake in Kenosha, Wisc. turned
violent last week when about 50
people blocked streets near the North
Precinct on Northeast Martin Luther
King Boulevard. People lit fires in
dumpsters, threw bottles at police and
sprayed graffiti on buildings all along
the street.
Stunning Trump-led Revolt
Egged on by President Trump’s
barrage of false attacks, violent armed
protesters stormed the U.S. Capitol last
Wednesday sending lawmakers into a
scramble for cover in a stunning attempt
to overturn the presidential election and
keep Democrat Joe Biden from the
Riot Follows Fatal Shooting
White House. At least 5 people died,
including a police officer who was hit
in the head.
Lawmaker Lets Rioters In
Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek
on Monday stripped Republican Rep.
Mike Nearman of Independence of
his responsibilities and called for his
resignation after he let right-wing
rioters into the Capitol in Salem
during a special legislative session last
December. “Representative Nearman
put every person in the Capitol in
serious danger,” Kotek said.
Georgia Doubles Down!
Police declared a riot and arrested
one person in Tigard following
demonstrations Thursday in response to
a fatal shooting by a Tigard police officer.
When about 100 people marched to the
Tigard Police Department, some in the
group vandalized several businesses,
breaking windows and tagging property
with graffiti, officials said.
Most Killings in 26 Years
Seven fatal shootings in December
pushed Portland’s homicides to 55 in
2020, marking the most killings in the
city in 26 years. Police said the last
time Portland recorded as many deadly
encounters was in 1994, when there
also were 55 homicides.