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Page 10A OFF PAGE ONE East Oregonian STABBINGS: The Pacific Northwest has a long and violent history of white supremacist activities Continued from 1A plea. He has been appointed public defenders. Lane Borg, head of the local public defender agency, said the office was “saddened by this tragedy” but urged people to let the justice system take its course. In the probable cause affidavit, prosecutors said video feeds in the back of a patrol car captured Christian saying after his arrest that he had stabbed three people in the neck. His court-appointed attorney, Gregory Scholl, did not immediately return a call for comment. The deaths stunned the city, but also underscored nervousness about recent events, including a series of apparent hate crimes in the region and contentious public rallies that have drawn national attention. The Pacific Northwest has a long and violent history of white supremacist and other racist activities, despite its more recent reputation for being one of the nation’s most socially liberal regions. “The idea that Portland is so liberal supersedes this dark, hidden secret about racism,” said Karen Gibson, a professor of urban studies at Portland State University. Many of the early settlers to Oregon were from Southern states and brought with them negative attitudes about blacks, Gibson said. Only about 6 percent of the Portland population is black, while more than 70 percent is non-Hispanic white, statistics show. Some residents said President Donald Trump has caused those racist demons to stir again with his administration’s travel ban, his promise to build a wall along the border with Mexico and his crackdown on illegal immigration. Since Trump’s election, Portland has led all major metropolitan areas in reported hate crimes, Mayor Ted Wheeler’s office said. “I don’t have that feeling like it can’t happen here — the way people talk about Portland — because we’ve got racism. We’ve got all kinds of things,” said Murr Brewster, who came to see a memorial at the city’s transit center. “It’s everywhere and the trouble is, it’s getting more and more prevalent.” The lone man to survive Friday’s stabbings says he’s having a difficult time processing what happened. Micah Fletcher told KGW-TV that he’s focusing on trying to get better. “I’m healing,” Fletcher told the station. He was released from the hospital Monday and attended the AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus Flowers, candles and chalk tributes are seen on Tuesday covering a memorial to two men who were fatally stabbed after shielding two young women from an anti- Muslim tirade on a Portland light-rail train. “The idea that Portland is so liber- al supersedes this dark, hidden secret about racism.” — Karen Gibson, professor of urban studies at Portland State University Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian via AP, Pool Micah Fletcher, a victim of a stabbing attack on a light rail train that left two dead, watches as suspect Jeremy Christian is arraigned in Multnomah County Circuit Court in Portland, Tuesday. hearing, where a scar on his neck was visible. On Tuesday, Wheeler reit- erated his call to organizers of a June 4 rally to cancel, saying he fears it could further enflame tensions. The event organized by the group Patriot Prayer is billed on its Facebook page as a Trump Free Speech Rally in “one of the most liberal areas of the West Coast.” Several count- er-protests are planned. Christian attended a similar rally in late April wearing an American flag around his neck and carrying a baseball bat. Police confis- cated the bat, and he was then caught on camera clashing with counter-protesters. Wheeler has also asked the federal government to cancel a June 10 rally that targets Sharia law out of fears it could create unrest. “These kinds of rallies ... are typically people who come from elsewhere and hold rallies here because we are a deep blue city. They are intending to be provocative,” Wheeler said Tuesday in a phone interview with The AP. “I’m going to do my best to keep the peace here.” Joey Gibson, the rally’s organizer, condemned Chris- tian in a phone interview with The AP and said he would not tolerate any Nazi presence at the upcoming event. He acknowledged that Christian had shown up at a Patriot Prayer rally on April 29 with a baseball bat and had made the Nazi salute. But Gibson said he hurled insults at rally organizers as well as counter-protesters. “He came yelling at everyone, cussing at everyone. He threatened me and tons of people,” Gibson said. “We told him, ‘You gotta get out of here.’” The stabbings cap a series of unsettling events in recent months in and around Port- land. Earlier this year, orga- nizers of a small community parade affiliated with the city’s famous Rose Festival canceled the celebration over fears of violence after protesters said the local Republican Party had plans to allow a “neo-Nazi hate group” to march with them. Local GOP leaders denied the charges. In the suburb of Troutdale, an Iranian refugee found his home painted with racist graffiti and death threats. And in Gresham, another eastern suburb, prosecutors charged a man with a hate crime after police said he chased down a black teenager with his car after a fight and struck him, killing him. For years, Portland was the home base for Volksfront, a now-defunct white separatist organization founded in 1994, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups. “There have been skin- heads in that region forever,” said Heidi Beirich, spokes- woman for the law center. One of the most infamous attacks in Portland’s racial history occurred in November 1988, when an Ethiopian immigrant was beaten to death by three white suprema- cists in front of his apartment. Mulugeta Seraw was a student who came to the United States to attend college. The members of the California-based White Aryan Resistance killed him with a baseball bat. The Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Def- amation League won a multimillion-dollar civil case in 1990 against the White Aryan Resistance on behalf of his family, and the damages crippled the organization. PENDLETON: New Pendleton Veterinary Clinic expected to be competed by the end of 2017 Continued from 1A more space than its current 715 N.W. Dorion Ave. location could provide. Ruth Pratt said they gutted the new building to better suit a dental office, which will feature new equipment when it opens June 5. Rather than move her entire business, Speakeasy Salon owner Katie Jones is only moving half of it next door. A combination hair salon and retail store, Jones said she jumped at the chance to take over the 1004 S.W. Court Ave. building after New York Richie’s moved to the St. George Plaza. Jones said she has under- taken extensive renovations to transform the former pizza parlor into Speakeasy Clothing Co., a fashion boutique that will take the place of the retail section at the salon. In addition the inventory they’re already offering, Jones said the dedicated space allows Speakeasy to offer an expanded children’s clothing selection and mens- wear, a niche she wants to fill due to the impending closure of J.C. Penney. The clothing store will also feature a coffeeshop, Sweet Irene’s Coffee, owned by Jones’ friend Heidi Wednesday, May 31, 2017 BRIEFLY UN chief urges action on climate change as Trump debates NEW YORK (AP) — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made an impassioned appeal Tuesday for the world to intensify action to combat climate change and imple- ment the Paris Agreement to limit carbon emissions as President Donald Trump debates whether the U.S. will withdraw from the accord. Guterres never mentioned the American leader by name in his speech at New York University’s Stern School of Business, his first major address on climate change since taking the reins of the United Nations on Jan. 1. But he said in response to a question afterward that the United Nations believes “it would be important for the U.S. not to leave the Paris agreement.” Even if Trump withdraws, Guterres said, “it’s very important for U.S. society as a whole — the cities, the states, the companies, the businesses — to remain engaged.” Trump, who was critical of the deal during his campaign for the presidency, is expected to make an announcement this week on whether the United States will remain a party to the climate accord that his predecessor, Barack Obama, strongly supported and signed. Nearly 200 nations agreed in 2015 to voluntarily reduce greenhouse gas emissions. As of Tuesday, 147 nations had ratified the Paris Agreement, representing more than 82 percent of global emissions, the U.N. chief said. Police: Man with fake gun in custody at Orlando airport ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A former Marine who was armed with a fake gun attempted a “suicide by cop” Tuesday night during a nearly three-hour standoff with police at the Orlando International Airport, authorities said. No one was hurt and no shots were ever fired, but the standoff caused confusion and anxiety among travelers who were uncertain about what was going on. Part of the airport was evacuated as hundreds of officers stormed the area, some with their guns drawn. Michael Wayne Pettigrew, 26, was in “mental distress” when police surrounded him at the rental car area of the airport, authorities said. He pointed what looked like a real gun at officers and himself, authorities said. “Our negotiators did a phenomenal job of talking with the subject for about two hours and finally got him to peacefully surrender,” Orlando Police Chief John Mina said. He was being held for a mental evaluation and faces aggravated assault charges. Men probing Ivanka Trump brands in China arrested, missing Staff photo by E.J. Harris Some merchandise has already been moved into the new store as remodeling work continues at the Speakeasy Clothing Co. on Tuesday in Pendleton. Thompson. Opening June 1, Jones said the coffee shop will have a drive thru and a walk-up window. The rest of the store will open June 14, creating more space at the salon, which will then be able to offer more booths and a tanning bed. While Speakeasy and Pratt bought existing build- ings to expand their square footage, Pendleton Veteri- nary Clinic decided to build from the ground up. Braving sporadic storm showers, clinic owner Fiona Hillenbrand, veterinary staff and the Pendleton Chamber of Commerce ambassadors donned hard hats and took up shovels to break ground on the new clinic Tuesday. The $1 million project will replace the existing clinic at 1901 S.W. Court with a new, 5,000-square- foot facility on Southwest Emigrant Avenue, between Papa Murphy’s and First Community Credit Union. A new program still being developed by the Pendleton Development Commission could contribute $100,000 toward the construction. Hillenbrand has said the new clinic will support addi- tional jobs and new services like pet daycare, luxury boarding, obedience classes and acupuncture. The new clinic is expected to be completed by the end of 2017. SHANGHAI (AP) — A man investigating working conditions at a Chinese company that produces Ivanka Trump-brand shoes has been arrested and two others are missing, the arrested man’s wife and an advocacy group said Tuesday. Hua Haifeng was accused of illegal surveil- lance, according to his wife, Deng Guilian, who said the police called her Tuesday afternoon. Deng said the caller told her she didn’t need to know the details, only that she would not be able to see, speak with or receive money from her husband, the family’s breadwinner. China Labor Watch Executive Director Li Qiang said he lost contact with Hua Haifeng and the other two men, Li Zhao and Su Heng, over the weekend. By Tuesday, after dozens of unanswered calls, he had concluded: “They must be held either by the factory or the police to be unreachable.” China Labor Watch, a New York-based nonprofit, was planning to publish a report next month alleging low pay, excessive overtime and the possible misuse of student interns. It is unclear whether the undercover investigative methods used by the advocacy group are legal in China. For 17 years, China Labor Watch has investi- gated working conditions at suppliers to some of the world’s best-known companies, but Li said his work has never before attracted this level of scrutiny from China’s state security apparatus. Pentagon declares success for key test of missile defense WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon scored an important success Tuesday in a test of its oft-criticized missile defense program, destroying a mock warhead over the Pacific Ocean with an interceptor that is key to protecting U.S. territory from a North Korean attack. Vice Adm. Jim Syring, director of the Pentagon agency in charge of developing the missile defense system, called the test result “an incredible accomplishment” and a critical milestone for a program hampered by setbacks over the years. “This system is vitally important to the defense of our homeland, and this test demonstrates that we have a capable, credible deterrent against a very real threat,” Syring said in a written statement announcing the test result. Despite the success, the $244 million test didn’t confirm that under wartime conditions the U.S. could intercept an intercontinen- tal-range missile fired by North Korea. Pyongyang is understood to be moving closer to the capability of putting a nuclear warhead on such an ICBM and could develop decoys sophisticated enough to trick an interceptor into missing the real warhead. Syring’s agency sounded a note of caution. Heated immigration debate led to Texas lawmakers’ scuffle AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Hispanic Texas lawmaker who a Repub- lican colleague threatened to shoot “in self-defense” after the Democrat pushed him said Tuesday that the altercation was a boiling point in a session where minority members were powerless to stop conserva- tive legislation they say is discriminatory. Tensions erupted on the floor of the Texas House of Representatives on Monday when Republican state Rep. Matt Rinaldi told Democrats he called U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents about demonstrators in the gallery holding signs that read “I am illegal and here to stay.” Hundreds of immigrant-rights activists — many of whom were Hispanic — had jammed the state Capitol on the final day before the Texas Legislature adjourned until 2019. Some came from as far as Arizona to protest a “sanctuary city” crackdown that will allow police starting September to ask people during routine stops whether they’re in the U.S. legally. Democratic state Rep. Poncho Nevarez did not deny pushing Rinaldi, who wrote on Facebook that he told Nevarez after being threatened that “I would shoot him in self-defense.” Nevarez said he was “sick of” the attitudes toward Hispanics in the Legislature and was taking a stand.
