PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - A protest broke out Wednesday in Portland, Oregon, after a grand jury said two police officers who fired 12 shots at a 27-year-old black man were justified in the fatal shooting.
Patrick Kimmons was hit nine times and was pronounced dead at a hospital on Sept. 30. His mother slammed the grand jury decision as family members and others gathered to protest outside the courthouse.
“The verdict is not justifiable,” Letha Winston told The Oregonian/OregonLive. “I’m gonna fight for my baby. How could you shoot a man after he already laid down flat?”
Police said a man later drove into the demonstration as it blocked a downtown street. One protester was struck but not injured, according to police. The driver, Mark A. Dickerson, was arrested on suspicion of fourth-degree assault, reckless endangerment and reckless driving.
He told The Associated Press by phone Wednesday evening that the protester jumped in front of his truck. “The guy jumped right in front of me, smiling,” Dickerson said, adding that he had business at the courthouse and didn’t know who the man was.
Investigative files released Wednesday by the Portland Police Bureau after the Multnomah County grand jury’s finding said Sgt. Garry Britt and Officer Jeffrey Livingston were providing extra patrol Oct. 30 in a part of downtown Portland where there had been gang-related violence when they heard gunshots.
Two men had been fighting, and Kimmons shot them, seriously injuring both, the report said.
Kimmons then began running toward Britt and Livingston and other bystanders with a revolver in his hand, the police said.
He ignored commands to drop the weapon, and the officers opened fire, the report said.
Officer Charles Asheim, a gang enforcement officer, arrived at the scene immediately after the shooting and told investigators he recognized Kimmons as a member of a gang.
One of the two other men shot was a member of a rival gang, he told investigators.
Surveillance cameras shooting from two different angles captured the incident, but the video is dark and grainy. Portland police officers do not wear body-worn video cameras.
Kimmons’ death is the second shooting to ignite tensions in Portland since the summer.
Jason Erik Washington was fatally shot by Portland State University police officers in June. That shooting was also found to be justified by a Multnomah County grand jury, prompting protests and a call to disarm campus officers at the university.
Washington was shot outside a bar as he tried to keep his friend out of a fight.
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