Another Unarmed Black Man Killed by Police!

YET ANOTHER 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 ½ 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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