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Oct 31, 2020 - Politics & Policy

Tensions flare following police killing of Black man outside Portland

Axios
a vigil. Photo: Paula Bronstein/AP
Photo: Paula Bronstein/AP

In Vancouver, Wash. — 12 minutes from Portland, Ore. — demonstrations intensified following the fatal shooting of a 21-year-old Black man, Kevin Peterson Jr., who was fatally shot Thursday by sheriff's deputies.

The state of play: Hundreds of people gathered Friday night, with signs reading "Honk for Black lives," The Oregonian reports. Windows were broken, flags torched and federal agents in riot gear surrounded a federal building — cautioning demonstrators that trespassing could result in arrest.

  • The Oregonian reports that the circumstances of the killing remain unclear.

Clark County Sheriff Chuck Atkins said in a statement that joint city-county narcotics task force ran after a man into the parking lot of a bank, where he reportedly fired a gun in their direction, according to ABC News. "Deputies approached him because they believed he may have been selling drugs in the parking lot of a suburban Vancouver hotel," per the Oregonian.

  • A firearm was recovered at the scene, according to Atkins.
  • Peterson had "produced" a gun before officers fired, according to a report from The Southwest Washington Independent Investigative Response Team, which is looking into further details of the shooting.
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