At a social justice demonstration on Wednesday, Portland Police Chief Bob Day formally apologized for a number of communication blunders he made following the mass shooting in Normandale Park, claiming the missteps had hurt those grieving.
According to Day, news reports published in the hours following the shooting in Northeast Portland on February 19, 2022, portrayed the victims as armed demonstrators when, in reality, they were unarmed traffic safety volunteers known as corkers.
Additionally, Benjamin Smith, the gunman, was described by public information officers as a homeowner. He actually occupied a nearby flat.
It was falsely believed that Smith was protecting his territory because of those words that spread swiftly in the late hours of the night when nothing was known about the chaotic attack.
In a video that was made public, the police chief indicated that he had spoken with representatives of the victims’ families and the community, who expressed their sadness over the loss of two ladies. Three more people were hurt.
Day stated, “I want to acknowledge the part the Portland Police Bureau played in making that pain worse.” The fact that this was an innocent bunch of people was not made clear.
When Smith, 46, confronted the gang of corkers near a park corner, he was enraged and armed. June T-Rex Knightly, 60, one of the women he shot, passed away right away.
Paralyzed from the neck down was the other, who has only been known by the nickname Deg. In July, the 32-year-old decided to take her ventilator off.
Last year, The Oregonian/OregonLive published an obituary that described her death as a homicide.
Smith is currently incarcerated at Snake River for the rest of his life. When a social justice protester ran over and shot him in the hip, the mass shooting came to a stop.
Although Deg’s family had been calling for a complete apology for years, the matter garnered more attention recently when the Portland Committee on Community-Engaged Policing called on Day to make the correction.
Deg’s mother did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
For The Oregonian/OregonLive, Zane Sparling reports on court proceedings and breaking news. You may contact him at [email protected], 503-319-7083, or pdxzane.
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