Portland Protesters Victimized: First by a Gunman and then by the Police

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

https://theintercept.com/2022/02/23/portland-protest-shooting/

No paywall
https://archive.fo/hiifq


PROSECUTORS IN PORTLAND, Oregon, charged a right-wing gunman with murder on Tuesday, three days after he opened fire on a group of unarmed women who were directing traffic along the route of a protest march against police violence.

The gunman, Benjamin Smith, 43, killed a 60-year-old woman and wounded three other women and one man before a volunteer security guard for the protest ended the rampage by shooting the attacker in the hip.

When Portland police officers arrived at the scene of the rampage, however, they were skeptical of the testimony from the victims and other witnesses that the attack had been unprovoked, and they arrested the volunteer security guard after he reportedly described his role and surrendered his semi-automatic pistol.

The next day the Portland Police Bureau outraged survivors of the attack and their allies in the racial justice community by issuing a press release that wrongly stated that the incident had “started with a confrontation between an armed homeowner and armed protesters.” The police also claimed that a lack of cooperation from protesters who witnessed or recorded the shootings meant that “investigators are trying to put this puzzle together without having all the pieces.”

*snip*

[TheRealNorth]

1. We were lucky....

We had the Capitol Police on Jan 6th instead of the Portland or Minneapolis PD.

[Ruby Zee]

2. Egregious

I live near where this occurred. The Portland Police Bureau took their time in releasing the name of the murderer (white man with a gun) and promoted the false narrative extensively. They have a terrible history dealing with peaceful protesters.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

3. FTP. K&R.

[Mme. Defarge]

4. From Media Bias / Fact Check

https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/the-intercept/

The Intercept

Last updated on September 8th, 2021 at 11:00 am

The Intercept - Left Bias - Liberal - Progressive - Mostly CredibleFactual Reporting: Mostly Factual - Mostly Credible and Reliable

[Nevilledog]

5. Point?

[Mme. Defarge]

6. You are free to draw your own conclusions.

I tend to give more weight to sources with a higher rating for factual content and that are closer to the middle of the bias spectrum.

That said, as a Portlander I am feeling a bit defensive about all of the reputation hits my city has taken, as well deserved as some of them may be.