WWW . THESKANNER . COM
A PRIL 4, 2012
P ORTLAND , O REGON
V OLUME XXXIV, N O . 13
25
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C HALLENGING P EOPLE TO S HAPE A B ETTER F UTURE N OW
Trayvon
Killing
Aftermath
FIRE FRASHOUR
Parents attend public
forum on racist
attacks against youth
By Bruce Poinsette
Special To The Skanner News
PHOTO BY LISA LOVING
I
n response to the Trayvon Martin shoot-
ing, around 80 men and 20 women
gathered at Self Enhancement Inc. (SEI)
this past Tuesday to discuss police brutality
and strategic action in the Black communi-
ty.
“We wanted to meet and figure out what
people can do individually to change their
communities,” says Blake Dye, organizer of
the event. “I don’t think the Black commu-
nity in Oregon communicates well. There
are a lot of people of common interest but
we just don’t know it.”
The event, billed as “The Conversation,”
was put on by the Phi Beta Sigma, a frater-
nity that runs on a social justice platform.
Males of different ages, backgrounds,
occupations and faiths attended the event.
Dye dismissed members of the major news
media so participants would feel more com-
fortable expressing their views and
emotions.
The meeting began with an outpouring of
anger at not just the Trayvon Martin shoot-
ing, but the killings of Black men,
specifically in Portland.
“There was a lot of pain in the room,” says
Dye. “People needed to be heard. They
needed other Black men to hear who they
were.”
Some men shared experiences of having
family members killed while others
expressed thoughts on the age gap. One man
even proposed entering the bicycle industry
to spur economic empowerment, after
telling his story of working for years at
Freightliner.
While Dye acknowledges that the sharing
of emotions was important, he says he did-
n’t want it to be two hours of emotional
rehashing.
The men broke into three groups to dis-
cuss specific ideas and strategies. These
smaller groups were facilitated by the three
Pastor LeRoy Haynes of the Albina Ministerial Alliance Coalition addressed a Monday rally on the steps of City Hall
calling on Mayor Sam Adams to make sure former Portland Police Officer Ronald Frashour -- who fatally shot Aaron
Campbell in the back in 2010 -- doesn’t get his badge and gun back. A state arbitrator ruled Friday that Frashour
was wrongly terminated.
Rogue Cop Gets Badge Back
Crowd calls for throwing out arbitration system for police firings
Lisa Loving
Of The Skanner News
A
s predicted by many,
including the Skanner
News, former Portland
Police Officer Ron Frashour –
who fatally shot in the back an
unarmed man having a mental
health crisis in 2010 — has been
reinstated to his job by a state
arbitrator.
A small but lively crowd of
under 200 people marched and
rallied outside City Hall today,
as Mayor Sam Adams told
See FORUM on page 3
INDEX
News ......................2,3
Opinion .....................4
A & E .........................5
Bids/Classifieds ..........7
reporters inside that he and his
staff are looking at ways they
can appeal the state labor rela-
tions officials’ decision.
Adams, who took over the job
of police commissioner and
fired former Chief Rosie Sizer
months after Campbell’s killing
in 2010, made no question about
his commitment to trying to
overturn the arbitrator’s ruling –
however it remains clear that
may not be possible.
“Frashour remains on ‘termi-
nated status’ with the Portland
Police Bureau and he will
remain that way until we figure
out a means of asking for a sec-
ond opinion from the State
Employment Relations Board,
which has jurisdiction over this
matter,” Adams said Monday
afternoon.
Asked if he was surprised by
the ruling, Adams did not
answer directly.
“You know as an actual deci-
sion maker in this process I
believe that our investigation
was very thorough and the disci-
pline that we pursued and
enacted was the fair discipline
based on the merits of the case,”
he said.
“Again, we didn’t find evi-
dence of malice in Mr.
Frashour’s actions and judg-
ments but we did find that he
acted outside of police protocols
— and part of the protocols
include making good deci-
sions.”
Adams strongly stated that he
is committed to making positive
changes within the department –
and that Chief Mike Reese is
too.
See COP on page 3
The Skanner News Converts to Solar
The newspaper office is now operating largely off the grid
G
reen is the new
Black – at least at
The
Skanner
Since Killingsworth Street is now designated
News. Our building is
a historic preservation area, it took a
getting a new, energy
efficient makeover that
planning hearing and a special permit
has reduced our energy
use, and sends power
building, at 415 N. Killingsworth Street, has
back into the electricity grid.
I’ll be honest with you. Our 1970s-era always been a great environment –for
plants. Check out our stairwell, drenched in
light from the overhead skylight, and feel
the fear: those killer tomatoes are baaaack.
As for human beings? That’s another story.
We have sweltered through summers and
we’ve shivered through winters. Don’t tell
anyone, but our brainy news editor keeps
furry slippers under her desk! And yes, they
See SOLAR on page 3