Oread Daily writes

UNARMED BLACK MAN KILLED BY POLICE

Shootings of unarmed Black men by police seem to go on without end in America. Portland is our latest stop.

Preliminary investigations show that a 28-year-old black man shot by Portland police after a routine traffic stop was unarmed. It was the second time in a year that Portland police have shot and killed an unarmed black person after a traffic stop. A May 5, 2003, incident ended with the death of Kendra James, 21.

Officers Jason Sery, 29, and Sean Macomber, 30, pulled over James Jahar Perez shortly at 5 p.m. Sunday in north Portland for failing to use his turn signal. Police Chief Derrick Foxworth said the 28-
year-old black man, who was apparently not armed, told the officers that he did not have a driver's license and then they say he resisted arrest. Macomber had physical contact with Perez, and Sery drew his weapon, repeatedly shooting Perez in the mid-body area. A
stun gun was also fired at some point. Medics were called, and Perez was pronounced dead at the scene, still in the driver's seat of the car with the door open. The officers were placed on standard paid administrative leave.

Two women who witnessed the incident said police had no reason to shoot Perez, who was sitting in a parked car in the parking lot in front of the retail mall on North Fessenden. "He wasn't doing anything. He was just sitting in the car," said Cara Sanchez, who
was riding in a car driven by Kim Sunquist when they saw the incident. Sanchez and Sunquist said they were driving north on North Fesseden on their way to a bingo game when they saw two officers crouched beside the parked car. Sunquist said she stopped in the
middle of the lane just before the shots were fired. "The officers were crouched down yelling, 'Don't get out of the car, don't get out of the car,' then they just shot him. It was horrible," Sunquist said.

Perez lived near the parking lot where he died, and relatives, including his mother, made their way to the scene within minutes, said Margaret Carter, an Oregon state senator who attended the police briefing Monday. "He was right down the street from his home
and his mother was there," she said. "She was just blown away feeling that he had not done anything to deserve this."

Tahliva Perez, James' sister said the family is devastated. She said her brother was unarmed at the time of the shooting. "We don't understand it. Why is my little brother dead? What did he do?" she asked.

"How can you justify shooting someone four times and then tazing them," one family member asked. "He's not a real stocky cat... You know, two police (officers) and you feel like you have to shoot. No weapon." Khalimah Lowe, a cousin of Perez, said, "It's happening too
much and it's happening in our community. And it's just too obvious, too obvious." She added, "Murder is murder and this was not justifiable at all."

Perez's family feels the black community is not the only one dealing with what they view as a major problem with police. "It's happening to white people also and everybody needs to get together no matter what the color. Because they have too much power to use a gun
whenever they want to, on anybody they want to and then they get excused," Perez's aunt said.

Portland Police Chief Derrick Foxworth personally promised members of James Jahar Perez's family that his shooting death Sunday at the hands of police will be thoroughly investigated, possibly by the end
of this week. Foxworth made the promise during a 50-minute visit with more than two dozen family members at the Northeast Portland home of Perez's aunt Vietta Lowe and uncle Paul Lindsey early Monday
afternoon.

Portland Mayor Vera Katz today called upon the Multnomah County District Attorney to conduct a public inquest and convene a grand jury in the police shooting. "Sunday's shooting death by a Portland
police officer of (James) Jahar Perez has raised legitimate questions and concerns within our community," Katz said. An inquest would involve testimony being taken in public rather than in secret,
as with grand jury proceedings.

The family of Kendra James has filed a $10 million wrongful-death suit regarding last May's shooting. Officer Scott McCollister, who fired the fatal shot, was cleared of wrongdoing by a grand jury but was suspended without pay for 5 1/2 months because of tactical decisions that he made before the shooting. He since has returned to patrol duty.

Sources: KGW (Portland), Portland Tribune, KOIN (Portland), KATU (Portland), Statesman-Journal (Salem, Oregon)

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