Posted on 09/26/2018 10:25:20 PM PDT by robowombat
Portland State protesters pledge to stay put until campus cops disarm Activists launched the occupation during the first day of classes after a man was fatally shot by campus police in June while witnesses say he tried to break up a fight
By Shane Dixon Kavanaugh
PORTLAND, Ore. — A group calling on Portland State University to end its policy of arming campus police officers said Tuesday that it would continue an around-the-clock occupation outside the school's public safety building.
"This is the escalation we need," said Olivia Pace, an organizer with the PSU Student Union, during a news conference. "The administration is about to be at a tipping point where they have to crack under the pressure
Pace said 20 people spent Monday night camped out in front of the school safety headquarters on Southwest Broadway and Montgomery Street.
Activists launched the occupation during the first day of classes and after around 200 people held a demonstration and candlelight vigil for Jason Washington, a husband and father of three who was fatally shot by campus police in June while witnesses say he tried to break up a fight.
Washington, 45, wound up holding a friend's handgun amid a drunken melee outside the Cheerful Tortoise when Officers James Dewey and Shawn McKenzie ordered him to drop the weapon, authorities said.
Within seconds of the command, the officers opened fire. Nine bullets struck Washington, according to police and the Multnomah County medical examiner's office.
The school released body cam video of both officers, which captured a chaotic scene before and after the shooting.
Records show Washington had a blood-alcohol content of 0.24 percent when he died, three times above the legal limit for driving in Oregon. A concealed handgun license carrier, he had confiscated the friend's gun after a night of drinking, according to police reports.
A grand jury this month decided not to indict the two officers, who have since returned to work. The Multnomah District Attorney's Office plans to release transcripts of the hearing.
Washington's death marked the first fatal shooting by the university's police force, which began carrying guns three years ago in a decision decried by activists and many students.
The occupiers said they plan to remain camped out in front of the public safety building until the school permanently disarms its police force.
They are also demanding that PSU fire Dewey and McKenzie, who remain at their jobs, and for the school to establish a permanent memorial for him on campus.
Pace said the student-led occupation would not attempt to shut down the public safety building but would serve as a reminder of Washington's death and the continued opposition to armed police officers at the school.
She also urged students and members of the public to attend the university's Board of Trustees meeting on Oct. 4.
A PSU spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Define what you mean. Around here at least campus cops are sworn officers with the same standards and training as any other department.
The liberal mecca of Oregon.
But they’ll sue the campus cops next time there’s a bad guy on campus and the cops can’t subdue him.
Protesting to become easy targets.
I would remove the campus cops and tell the poor little snowflakes - "Good luck."
My original idea was that if they disarm the campus cops, put them on a strict parking patrol and write tickets - for every law on the books.
Radio or Walkman too loud? Ticket for noise.
Bike left outside the bike rack (even if full)? Ticket for blocking a walkway.
One thing that police learn quickly is that there are always laws that you can use to make a point, even if the original infraction won't stand.
Nine bullets by two officers, that's a pretty good hit-rate. Better than most of what I read about city cops ...
Who knew?
Expel the lot of them.
Today.
L
If the university is responsible for the crimes being committed on campus, I would think they’d be more careful about the type of people they let in.
If the student’s don’t like armed security on campus, there should be schools they could go to that caters to their wishes.
In Colorado you can ccw in a bar and you can drink. Standard dui blood alcohol levels apply. Every legal class says not too for all sorts of good reasons. My frau no longer asks when we go out to dinner. She assumes if I am driving I am armed.
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