- Denis C. Theriault
- Marching down Broadway.
More than 100 Portlanders clutching placards and banners and righteous indignation had gathered in the city's so-called "living room" for an event called the Rally for Police Justice and Accountability.
And throughout the event, sponsored by the Albina Ministerial Alliance Coalition for Justice and Police Reform, one message flashed again and again: Calls for justice—sparked after a series of excessive-force cases, some tragically fatal—won't be cooling off any time soon.
That message erupted in speech after speech. It flooded the streets of downtown Portland, part of a peaceable march that flowed from the city's so-called "living room," past the Justice Building and the police bureau's headquarters before halting at City Hall.
And it lived on placards and signs and banners. Including a few that served as a grim roll call of police use-of-force, bearing the names of men either shot or beaten to death by officers, men who all were enduring some kind of mental illness: James Chasse, Aaron Campbell, Keaton Otis, and Jack Dale Collins.
"Officers that cross the line must be made to face accountable," thundered the Rev. Dr. LeRoy Haynes, vice president of the Albina Ministerial Alliance. "We stand today as citizens of a united community to say we will not accept it when unarmed citizens like Aaron Campbell can be shot in the back while complying with officers. It is unacceptable to say that James Chasse was beaten to death by the Portland police."
Keep reading to read more about the rally and see more pictures. And, later, stay tuned for video shot by Kevin "the Intern" Otzenberger.