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PPB Kills Third Person in 2023 Shot Wrong Black Man, Unarmed, in Back in 2022

On December 6, Portland Police responding to a call about someone tapping into a business' electricity without permission shot and killed Isaac Seavey, 27. It was the third PPB-caused death of 2023 (PPR #90). Per their new policy, they named Justin Clary (#40926) as the shooter 15 days later. In late September, the Multnomah County District Attorney released Grand Jury transcripts in the shooting death of Immanueal Clark-Johnson, who was killed in November 2022 by Portland Police (PPR #88). There was no explanation why the Grand Jury took nine months to deliberate, but there were shocking facts that might have led to the powers-that-be wanting to delay action: Clark-Johnson, a Black man, was not the person police were seeking the day he was killed, was shot in the back, and was unarmed (Oregonian, October 1).

Officer Clary previously shot Billy Wayne Simms in 2012 (PPR #57), shot at Ralph Turner in 2011 (PPR #53) and shot two dogs, killing one, in October 2002 (PPR #28). Trigger-happy cowboy?

Other PPB shootings news:

* New information was reported on PoniaX Calles, another Black man the PPB killed in July (PPR #90), including that a Portland sergeant figured Calles headed to a prior known address, leading to three cops shooting the murder suspect (Oregonian, August 25). As highlighted by the Portland Police Association on Facebook, Sgt. Michael Filbert claims to have an angel on his shoulder. In December, a grand jury found no criminal wrongdoing. The Oregonian reported the officers had surrounded Calles' car and deployed drones and a robot. No explanation was given of why officers fired their guns, but that may come out when the transcripts are released.

* In October, the Oregonian ran a four-part series detailing the Portland shootings of Black men in the 1970s which led to prnŽ'sts (and eventually, Portland's first police oversight system). A salient quote from the last article: "Anybody they shoot, they always find them not guilty" (October 20).

* On October 6, Portland police chased burglary suspect Gilbert Colli-Garma, 37, leading to him crashing his car, which injured him, two police officers and a civilian. Colli-Garma died from his injuries in November (Oregonian, November 26).

* The family of Koben Henricksen, who was in mental health crisis when Officer Justin Raphael killed him in 2019 (PPR #79), agreed to settle with the City for $100,000 (Oregonlive, December 7).

* The family of Aaron Stanton, who was shot in front of his six year old daughter by Portland officers in July 2022 (PPR #87), also filed a suit (Oregonlive, November 29).

* ...And a suit was filed by the family of Immanueal Clark-Johnson, now knowing he was unarmed and mis-identified (KOIN-TV6, October 9).

Like the original, the PPB's update of the May 2023 Police Review Board Report does not contain information on any of the 17 deadly force cases from 2021-2022 (see Police Review Board article).

Man in Mental Health Crisis Dies in Custody of Milwaukie Police

On December 12, Milwaukie officers picked up Jean Descamps, 26, who was in mental health crisis, to transport him to Unity Behavioral Health Center. Descamps died on the way there. The Milwaukie Chief says there was no struggle between Descamps and the officers. Portland Police are investigating (KGW-TV8, December 15). If we find out officers caused this death, we will add this incident to the officer-involved deaths for the state of Oregon for 2023 (see other shootings article).
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January, 2024
Also in PPR #91

Portland Copwatch
PO Box 42456
Portland, OR 97242
(503) 236-3065/ Incident Report Line (503) 321-5120
e-mail: copwatch@portlandcopwatch.org

Portland Copwatch is a grassroots, volunteer organization promoting police accountability through citizen action.

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