Portland State University police shoot to death registered gun owner who was Black

By Frederick H. Lowe
Contributing Writer

(BlackmansStreet.Today) — Portland State University police shot to death a registered gun owner and a Navy veteran who was trying to break up a fight outside a campus bar.

Jason Washington, 45, who worked for the U.S. Postal Service in Portland, Oregon, where the shooting occurred was attempting to break up a fight outside the Cheerful Tortoise Friday night when he fell causing his gun to slip out of its holster, according to cellphone video.

The fight began when a white man began yelling racial slurs at a Black man in the bar.

Washington was reaching for his gun when campus police shot him to death. Police told reporters Washington had a concealed carry permit for his gun.

This is the second time in slightly more than two years police have murdered a Black man who was a registered gun owner. Philando Castile, 32, was shot to death on July 16, 2016, in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, near Minneapolis, following a traffic stop ordered by Jeronimo Yanez, of the St. Anthony, Minnesota police department. Castile told Yanez that he had a gun and that he was registered gun owner.

According to a transcript, Yanez said, “Okay, don’t reach for it.” As Castile reached for his ID and proof of registration, as requested, Yanez fired seven shots killing him.

The National Rifle Association was mostly silent after Castile’s deadly shooting. BlackmansStreet.Today checked NRA’s website and found nothing concerning the deadly shooting of Washington.

Shawn McKenzie and James Dewey, the Portland State University cops, have been placed on administrative leave for the deadly shooting, according to Rahmat Shoureshi, the school’s president, who referred to the deadly shooting as the “incident.” Dewey and McKenzie fired several shots, which was captured on cell phone video.

In 2013, McKenzie arrested a Japanese PSU student for parking in a school garage without a proper permit. The charges were later dropped.

On Sunday more than 100 protesters marched to Portland State University wearing Black and carrying signs demanding justice in the campus police shooting of Washington. Arming the campus police has been a controversial issue at Portland State University. They have been armed since 2014.

In April, a University of Chicago police officer shot and wounded Charles Thomas, a 21-year-old U of C student. Police claim Thomas charged the police with a pipe before he was shot. The Cook County District Attorney’s Office charged Thomas with several criminal offenses.

Washington was married and had three daughters.

This article originally published in the July 9, 2018 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.