Good News and Bad News

Photo made from the terrace in a tapas bar in a hotel near City Hall. It was the first time Sue and I ever went into a tapas bar. We felt like runaway school girls, but it felt appropriate to celebrate the good news.

Our friend Kristin fought the power and won! (Sort of.) A year and a half ago Kristin made some photographs of high-tech military equipment in the back of a parked police vehicle. No police action was taking place at the time; she just saw the vehicle standing open and began making photographs. She was approached by police who first ordered her to stop making photos, then threatened her with arrest, demanded her ID, and finally grabbed her by the arm and yanked her so hard they left a massive bruise on her arm. They charged her with jaywalking, which was the only “crime” they could name, since the vehicle was in plain view in a public space. 

Last night, after more than a year of filing complaints and making phone calls, being interviewed, and seeking legal support, Kristin had a hearing before a citizen’s review committee, and they upheld her complaint of excessive force. Next the committee will bring Kristin’s complaint before the new police chief, and even if the new police chief sides with her officers (as is usual), the chief will be forced to hear this story and consider ways to deal with out-of-control officers demanding to be obeyed while trying to hide equipment that tax money has paid for.

The bad news is deeply troubling. Micah is a young Black man who identifies as Queer and has been part of the activist scene in Portland since he was twenty years old. I've photographed him many times in the course of documenting social justice actions. Micah has been harassed and followed by the police countless times, charged with offenses that no white man would be scrutinized for unless he was being persecuted. Micah was on probation when OccupyICEPDX started. He was active in the camp, and the police caught him just a few days before the camp was shut down, charged him with probation violation, and took him back to jail. Yesterday he was sentenced to 30 months in prison. Many of us are grieving and anxious about how he will make it through these 30 months, given his high profile as a social justice warrior.