Page 4
Febuary 23, 2022
Black Exhibit Installed Deadly Confrontation
Continued from Page 3
Photo by Joe Mabel
Clark County Historical Museum (former Carnegie Library), Vancouver,
Washington.
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area. The timeline shares just a few sto-
ries of the many Black people who have
contributed to this place we all call home.
“The NAACP Vancouver branch is
excited to partner with the Clark County
Historical Museum for the “Black Histo-
ry Highlights of Southwest Washington"
exhibit.” said NAACP Vancouver Branch
president, Jasmine Tolbert, "Systemic
racism in Clark County and all over this
country has made it so Black History and
narratives have not always been told, I’m
grateful for the Clark County Historical
Museums time and commitment to tell-
ing all of the history in Clark County.”
“Black History Highlights of South-
west Washington” will be open through
2024.
The exhibit was made possible through
the generous time, knowledge, and fund-
ing of the Vancouver NAACP, based on
the timeline originally composed for the
exhibit, "The Lost Ark of African Amer-
ican Art, History & Experience in Van-
couver and the Northwest," held annually
at the Fort Vancouver Regional Library
since February 2018.
The Vancouver NAACP Vancouver
Branch was founded in 1945 and works
to disrupt inequality, dismantle racism,
and accelerate change in key areas in-
cluding criminal justice, health care, edu-
cation, climate, and the economy.
For
more
information,
visit
NAACPVancouverWA.org.
energytrust.org
as Benjamin Smith. Detectives were work-
ing with prosecutors to review potential
charges, police said. It wasn’t immediately
clear if Smith had an attorney who could
speak on his behalf.
According to reporting on OPB, the
shooter approached a group of women pro-
testors calling them “violent terrorists” and
spewing other “misogynist vulgarity.”
Smith’s roommate, Kristine Chris-
tenson, told The Oregonian that Smith
often criticized the Black Lives Matter
movement, the COVID-19 mask re-
quirement, crime in the neighborhood
and homeless people living near the
park by their apartment.
Authorities also identified the victim
Tuesday as Brandy “June” Knightly, 60,
and said she died of a gunshot wound.
Friends and relatives said Knightly was
well-known for helping people in the city’s
active protest movement.
Her friend Kathleen Saadat told the
newspaper that Knightly was dedicated to
acting on her values of justice and fairness.
“She was a warm, giving and kind
person who spent time trying to think of
things she could do to make the world
better and to make herself better in the
world,” Saadat said.
Knightly was known as T-Rex by oth-
er protesters, often driving people to and
from different points during demonstra-
tions in Portland and surrounding towns
and paid particular attention to helping
people with disabilities or others who
were vulnerable, friends said.
Knightly’s wife, Katherine Knapp,
said Knightly first got involved in ra-
cial justice protests when demonstrators
marched near their home after George
Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police
in May 2020.
Portland City Commissioner JoAnn
Hardesty, the first Black woman to serve
on the City Council, issued a statement
saying it appeared the alleged shooter was
a man with white supremacist sympathies.
“There is a history and pattern of threats
of violence against activists, including my-
self. As a community this is deeply wound-
ing and distressing,” Hardesty said.
The commissioner said she was taking a
pause from her campaign for re-election to
review her own safety protocols.
“We know this has a chilling effect on
civic engagement, and we will keep fight-
ing for a world where we all experience
safety on our streets and in our daily lives,”
she said
Police earlier described an “extremely
chaotic scene” at the northeast Portland
park and described a confrontation be-
tween an armed area resident and protest-
ers, some of whom were also armed.
Authorities said most people left the
scene without talking to officers.
Social media flyers show that at the
same time as the shooting, a march was
planned for Amir Locke, a Black man who
was fatally shot by police in Minneapolis.
-Associated Press contributed to this story.