WEDNESDAY • April 21, 2021 • Serving Central Oregon since 1903 • $1.50
SPORTS PULLOUT, A5-8
COVID-19
infections
rise, bring
new county
risk levels
GUILTY VERDICT
KILLING OF GEORGE FLOYD
‘The fight doesn’t end now’
BY GARY A. WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
COVID-19 infections are rising in
Oregon, putting two-thirds of all coun-
ties into what, for now, is the highest
possible level of restrictions, Gov. Kate
Brown said Tuesday.
The new county risk levels an-
nounced Tuesday include nearly a
dozen special waivers granted under
Brown to keep counties from going
into the most severe set of restrictions
on activities, businesses and events.
Deschutes and Crook counties are
listed as high risk, although each would
technically qualify for extreme.
See Risk / A7
Prineville
legislator
alleges text
harassment
by peer
Bend activists respond to outcome in trial of ex-cop Derek Chauvin
BY KYLE SPURR AND JACKSON HOGAN • The Bulletin
F
or the last 10 months, and
PHOTO: A group rallies in downtown Bend on Tuesday after former Minneapolis police
officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of killing George Floyd. Dean Guernsey/The Bulletin
especially Tuesday, Josie
BY GARY A. WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
Rep. Vikki Breese Iverson,
R-Prineville, has gone public with her
allegation that she was sexually ha-
rassed in texts from Rep. Brad Witt,
D-Clatskanie.
Breese Iverson said Tuesday that
she was the previously anonymous
lawmaker who accused Witt of sexual
harassment. She said she was speak-
ing out after the bipartisan House
Conduct Committee rejected a rec-
ommendation that Witt be removed
from chairmanship of the House Ag-
riculture and Natural Resources Com-
mittee.
See Harassment / A4
Room tax
may pay for
trail upkeep
BY BRENNA VISSER
The Bulletin
A proposed change to how hotel
room tax revenue will be spent could
mean more funding for the upkeep of
natural amenities around Bend if ad-
opted by the Bend City Council.
On Wednesday, the council is
scheduled to vote on an ordinance
that would allow the city to use
money collected from the transient
room tax to not only pay for tourism
promotion, which is what the money
currently goes toward, but also to
manage natural tourist attractions
like trails.
The change would bring Bend in line
with other cities, which already allow
this revenue to be spent on what state
law calls “tourism-related facilities.”
Stanfield got a knot in her stomach
when she thought of the message a
jury would send if it acquitted the
killer of George Floyd.
It would have meant her voice, as well
as those of other social justice activists,
would have gone unheard. It would have
reflected racism still in the legal system.
Instead, she felt relief when the guilty
verdict was announced Tuesday for for-
mer Minneapolis police officer Derek
Chauvin, who killed Floyd May 25, 2020.
Chauvin was found guilty of murder and
manslaughter after kneeling on the neck
of Floyd, a Black man from Minneapolis,
for more than nine minutes.
“Right now, it is a lot to process, and
we feel relieved, shocked, hopeful and
ready to fight for the next Black life,” said
Stanfield, the leader of the Central Ore-
gon Diversity Project.
Floyd’s death motivated Stanfield to
speak out. Stanfield and other activists
led several protests across the region last
year, including in Bend and Prineville.
The first protest, March 30, 2020, in
Bend drew hundreds of people who
marched through downtown streets.
Similar protests against racial inequality
and police brutality continued almost
weekly throughout the summer.
“We know that the fight doesn’t end
now and that we have more work to do to
prevent more Black deaths in the future,”
said Stanfield, who joined a small gath-
ering in downtown Bend on Tuesday to
share thoughts and feelings on the verdict.
Deschutes County District Attorney
John Hummel, who called for criminal
justice reform in Oregon and across the
nation after Floyd’s killing, said Tuesday
it would have been an injustice if Chau-
vin was found not guilty.
“If there was not a conviction in that
case, that would be saying to America that
officers are above the law,” Hummel said.
See Verdict / A4
Chauvin is taken to jail after trial, awaiting sentencing
BY AMY FORLITI, STEPHEN
GROVES AND TAMMY WEBBER
Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS — For-
mer Minneapolis Officer
Derek Chauvin was convicted
Tuesday of murder and man-
slaughter for pinning George
Floyd to the pavement with
his knee on the Black man’s
neck in a case that triggered
worldwide protests, violence
and a furious reexamination
of racism and policing in the
U.S.
Chauvin, 45, was immedi-
ately led away with his hands
cuffed behind his back and
could be sent to prison for
decades.
The verdict — guilty as
charged on all counts, in a
relatively swift, across-the-
board victory for Floyd’s sup-
Former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin, center, is taken
into custody as his attorney, Eric Nelson, left, looks on, after the
verdicts were read Tuesday at Chauvin’s trial in Minneapolis for the
death of George Floyd. Court TV via AP, Pool
porters — set off jubilation
mixed with sorrow across the
city and around the nation.
“Today, we are able to
breathe again,” Floyd’s
younger brother Philo-
nise said at a joyous family
news conference where tears
streamed down his face as
he likened Floyd to the 1955
Mississippi lynching vic-
tim Emmett Till, except that
this time there were cameras
around to show the world
what happened.
The jury of six whites and
six Black or multiracial peo-
ple came back with its verdict
after about 10 hours of delib-
erations over two days. The
now-fired white officer was
found guilty of second-de-
gree unintentional murder,
third-degree murder and sec-
ond-degree manslaughter.
Chauvin’s face was ob-
scured by a COVID-19 mask,
and little reaction could be
seen beyond his eyes dart-
ing around the courtroom.
His bail was immediately re-
voked. Sentencing will be in
two months; the most serious
charge carries up to 40 years
in prison.
See Chauvin / A4
TODAY’S
WEATHER
Mostly sunny
High 67, Low 40
Page A12
INDEX
Business
Classifieds
Comics
A11-12
A1 3
A9-10
Dear Abby
Editorial
Horoscope
A7
A8
A7
Local/State
Lottery
Obituaries
A2-3
A6
A4
Puzzles
Sports
A10
A5- 6
The Bulletin
An Independent Newspaper
We use
recycled
newsprint
Vol. 117, No. 329, 14 pages, 1 section
DAILY
See Tax / A7
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