TUESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2021
Baker City, Oregon
A4
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EDITORIAL
Baker’s
generosity
impresses
as always
Though it’s hardly surprising, the generosity
that is a defi ning characteristic of Baker County
residents continues to make our hearts swell as it
enriches our communities during the Christmas
season.
Recently the examples have abounded.
Compiling a complete list is a daunting task —
indeed, an impossible one.
So many of the good works are done by people
who refuse recognition, compelling evidence that
selfl essness and modesty are often twin traits.
Which isn’t to say that those whose efforts are
publicized actively seek the attention for selfi sh
reasons. Well it is that residents can learn about
some of the ways in which our friends, families
and neighbors strive to exemplify the qualities
that defi ne this holiest of seasons, most particu-
larly charity.
Among the campaigns that caught our atten-
tion:
• Students and staff at South Baker Intermedi-
ate and Brooklyn Primary schools had a coin drive
competition that raised $4,119.97 (Brooklyn had a
slight edge) to buy toys for local children through a
program sponsored by Lew Brothers Les Schwab
Tires and CASA of Eastern Oregon.
(The latter is an organization whose volunteers
help represent the interests of children in the
court system.)
• Country Financial donated $1,500 to the
Baker City Police Department’s K9 Drug Preven-
tion Program, the money paying costs associated
with Capa, the Department’s drug-detecting dog.
• The Baker County Chamber of Commerce,
along with the Baker City Kiwanis Club, is re-
sponding to more than 250 letters to Santa Claus
written by local children.
• Volunteers sang Christmas carols to residents
at two assisted living communities on Friday, Dec.
17.
• Angel trees have been available at multiple
locations to ensure every child has something to
exclaim about, with shining eyes, this Christmas.
There are, to reiterate, many equally compelling
examples across the county.
As we continue through the holiday season,
with its sometimes hectic hours and other occa-
sional annoyances, spare some time to remember
how many wonderful things are happening.
Most of us probably will never experience, or
even know about, many of these episodes.
But their value is in no way diminished by their
anonymity.
— Jayson Jacoby, Baker City Herald editor
CONTACT YOUR PUBLIC OFFICIALS
President Joe Biden: The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania
Ave., Washington, D.C. 20500; 202-456-1111; to send comments,
go to www.whitehouse.gov.
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley: D.C. offi ce: 313 Hart Senate Offi ce
Building, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C., 20510; 202-224-3753;
fax 202-228-3997. Portland offi ce: One World Trade Center, 121
S.W. Salmon St. Suite 1250, Portland, OR 97204; 503-326-3386;
fax 503-326-2900. Baker City offi ce, 1705 Main St., Suite 504, 541-
278-1129; merkley.senate.gov.
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden: D.C. offi ce: 221 Dirksen Senate
Offi ce Building, Washington, D.C., 20510; 202-224-5244; fax 202-
228-2717. La Grande offi ce: 105 Fir St., No. 210, La Grande, OR
97850; 541-962-7691; fax, 541-963-0885; wyden.senate.gov.
U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz (2nd District): D.C. offi ce: 2182
Rayburn Offi ce Building, Washington, D.C., 20515, 202-225-6730;
fax 202-225-5774. La Grande offi ce: 1211 Washington Ave., La
Grande, OR 97850; 541-624-2400, fax, 541-624-2402; walden.
house.gov.
Race-baiting in the aftermath
of the Kyle Ritt enhouse trial
By AMY SWEARER
The acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse
last month on charges related to his
Aug. 25, 2020, shooting of three white
men during a chaotic night of destruc-
tive civil unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin,
should have surprised no one who
watched the trial with an open mind
and a basic understanding of self-
defense laws. Yet countless blue-check
pundits on social media lost their col-
lective minds in a race-baiting game of
“What if Rittenhouse were black?”
The hot takes abounded. Some
highly followed commentators went so
far as to explicitly assert that no person
of color could ever intentionally shoot
someone and be acquitted on grounds of
lawful self-defense.
The idea that self-defense is a legal
justifi cation largely for white Americans
and that no jury would ever acquit de-
fendants of color who claim they acted
in self-defense is absurdly reductive.
It’s also easily disprovable with a
basic Google search.
Consider just some of the many
non-white defendants acquitted of
murder or attempted murder in recent
years because of successful self-defense
claims:
• Tony Bristol – A jury acquitted
Bristol on all charges after he fatally
shot one man and wounded another
at a nightclub. The prosecution argued
that Bristol intentionally armed him-
self with a gun just before the confron-
tation and shot the two unarmed men
— one in the back — over a longstand-
ing interpersonal dispute. Bristol ar-
gued that he shot in self-defense after
the men threatened him, and that he
reasonably believed they were armed
and posed an imminent danger.
• Stephen Spencer – Spencer, a
concealed carry permit holder, was
acquitted by a mostly white jury who
believed he fatally shot a white man
in self-defense during a race-related
dispute.
• Jaron Moore – Moore admitted to
fatally shooting Reginald Frank follow-
ing an argument at Frank’s home, but
claimed he acted in self-defense after
Frank produced a gun. The jury acquit-
ted Moore despite the prosecution’s
argument that Frank was unarmed
and that Moore was the initial aggres-
sor who “went to the victim’s home
to inject himself into an argument he
didn’t belong in.”
• Jesus Lima – Prosecutors argued
that the 18-year-old Lima was the ini-
tial aggressor who knowingly brought
a gun to a confrontation outside of a
liquor store in which he fatally shot an-
other man, and that he had previously
threatened one of the men involved
in the confrontation. He was nonethe-
less acquitted after testifying that he
was attacked by a group of fi ve men
and retreated for over 20 yards before
drawing his gun.
Additional examples of exonerated
defendants abound: Nehemiah Martin
(April 2021), Kavante Wright (June
2021), Kenneth Ray Smith (October
2021) and Demarcus Glenn (October
2021) to name a few.
And this is to say nothing of the
recent and readily researchable
cases where defendants of color were
charged with serious felonies, but had
those charges dropped by prosecutors
long before trial because the state
believed it couldn’t disprove a claim
of self-defense — defendants like Ajay
Alvarez (May 2021), Robert Chesser
(September 2021) and Jawaun
Thompson (June 2021).
If the talking heads of social media
aren’t aware of these cases, it’s hardly
surprising that they’re unaware of the
many cases where white defendants
did not successfully “get away with
murder” by “just claiming self-defense.”
Ironically, just a week after the
Rittenhouse verdict, a jury in Georgia
convicted three white men of murder in
the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery,
a black man, discounting their claim
of self-defense. This is far from the
only recent example of white defen-
dants unsuccessfully raising claims of
self-defense, including against black
victims:
• Anthony James Trifi letti – The
24-year-old Triffi letti was convicted
of murder for fatally shooting a black
man after a minor traffi c accident.
Trifi lleti claimed he acted in self-de-
fense and feared the man — who was
ultimately unarmed — was reaching
for a gun.
• Michael McKinney – A white
Army veteran was sentenced to over
a decade in prison for shooting and
wounding a Black teenage girl when he
fi red into a vehicle encircled by political
rally participants. The man initially
claimed he “felt he was in danger” and
was merely protecting himself.
• Michael Drejka – A jury convicted
Drejka of manslaughter for fatally
shooting Markeis McGlockton, a black
man, during a confrontation over a dis-
abled parking spot. Drejka claimed he
acted in self-defense after an unarmed
McGlockton shoved him to the ground
and stepped toward him.
The American criminal justice sys-
tem is imperfect. But simplistic, race-
baiting narratives about self-defense
claims distract from real problems and
racial disparities.
A black Kyle Rittenhouse, tried un-
der those same circumstances and with
all relevant interactions equally caught
on video, very likely raises a successful
claim of self-defense — a justifi cation
entirely warranted under the law,
based on the evidence.
In a sensible world, we would at
least acknowledge this, and stop dema-
goguing successful self-defense claims
based on the defendant’s race.
money, residents will get some lapel
pins, a plaque, and a big party featur-
ing an alleged participant in the Jan.
6 attack on the United States Capitol.
I don’t believe our county really wants
to be a part of this, at least I don’t. How
about you commissioners?
This statement by Carrie Mat-
thews also troubled me, “If we become
a constitutional county now and pass
further resolutions, we will be proactive
instead of reactive by telling them not
in our county, not on our watch, or you
will see the inside of the sheriff’s jail.
Plain and simple,” Matthews said.
What “further resolutions” might
we expect? Actions like this are what
is causing so much division across this
country, and I for one am hopeful that
we “Americans” are smart enough to
unite this country, it seems our elected
representatives are unable to do so. I
would have preferred to present my
case in person, but I would have worn
my mask and certainly been escorted
out, denying me my constitutional right
of free speech, and right to assembly as
was Mr. Dielman.
Don Worley
Baker City
Amy Swearer is a legal fellow in The
Heritage Foundation’s Meese Center for
Legal and Judicial Studies.
Your views
We have the Constitution, so why
another local resolution?
I just read with interest an article
in the Dec. 16 edition, Constitutional
County. If we already enjoy the liberties
afforded us by the Constitution, as stat-
ed by Mr. Jake Brown in this article,
why do we need this resolution? As for
our overly friendly commissioner from
Lander County, Mr Art Clark, I did a
little research and found this. Lander
County, Nevada, is shelling out $2,500
for lifetime membership to a controver-
sial, far-right law enforcement group,
The Daily Beast has learned. For their