 photo by OSCAR JOHNSON |
BY MAUREEN O'HAGAN
AND OSCAR JOHNSON |
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Binns' last birthday party, held at Dittler's Beach on the Columbia River, attracted so many people that traffic on Northeast Marine Drive slowed to a halt, preventing quick ambulance response to the shooting.
One member of the Portland Police Bureau said officers "bend over backwards" to be sensitive to African Americans. But in some circles, he said, "everything is filtered through the race glasses."
According to police reports, Daniel Binns led protestors to the home of Police Chief Charles Moose and chanted, "Where's the black fucking chief?"
The beanbag shotguns, which the Portland Police Bureau has had for one year, have an impact that is harder than a major-league fastball. So far, they have been used on 21 people.
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Anyone watching the late news last Monday saw a disturbing picture: police in riot helmets descending on Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, firing beanbag "bullets" on protesters and, in one instance, macing a mother and taking a baby from her arms. By week's end, things had quietened down. At a Thursday press conference, protest leader Daniel Binns and Mayor Vera Katz hugged each other and talked about hammering out differences between police and citizens. Unresolved are tougher questions: How much police presence in African-American communities is too much? At what point does law enforcement become racism? At the center of the controversy is Binns. Known as "Geachy Dan" after a character in a Sidney Poitier movie, Binns has had his share of trouble with the law. Between 1985 and 1991 he was arrested 10 times for offenses ranging from assault to weapons possession. He was sentenced to 41 months in federal prison in 1991 for drug dealing. But since his prison release in 1992, his record has been clean, and Binns has won lots of friends and acquaintances. For the last four years he has been a popular youthbasketball coach at Matt Dishman Community Center. But Binns is best known for his fleet of ice-cream trucks that play rap music. Business has been good; he owns five personal vehicles, one of them a '69 Rolls Royce. He's also known for his parties. For the past four years, Binns has thrown himself a big birthday bash each August. This year he chose Sellwood Riverfront Park as the location. Binns had initially attempted to secure a park permit for the Aug. 16 event--which last year drew an estimated 2,000 young people--but decided against taking the official route when he learned the Parks Bureau required insurance and additional amenities for the large crowd. Binns planned the party anyway, much to the dismay of police, who closed the park to cars when they heard about the event. Although police action affected all groups in the park that day, officers were clearly targeting Binns, whose parties, they say, have a history of trouble. Police note that a young man who attended Binns' birthday party last year was shot in the face after an argument. They say they also confiscated two guns from a car at last year's party and two more guns from people who had left the party. Binns also attracted police attention because of a nightclub called the Mecca that he operated for a short time. In April, Odie Moffett was shot and killed after a disagreement at the Southeast Portland club. "For us it comes down to public safety," said Detective Sgt. Cheryl Kanzler. "Think about our liability if someone got killed." Binns said the shooting at the club had nothing to do with him. "Whatever altercation happened, it all started way before they got to the club," he told WW. As for the guns and shooting at last year's party, he said, they came from outsiders over whom he has no control; he couldn't turn people away from a public place. "I can sit here and say at my parties, 'I don't want no gang members there,' or 'I don't want no white people there,' but that's not me.... I was bringing everybody together, having a good time in a positive way." To Deputy District Attorney Eric Bergstrom, the excuse doesn't wash. "If you're having parties and people are dying, you need stop having parties," he said. After being turned away from Sellwood Riverfront Park, many partiers headed to Irving Park in Northeast Portland. As the gathering grew, police began arriving in numbers and handing out tickets for minor traffic infractions. Partiers reportedly threw rocks at the police as they were forced to leave the park. The next day, tensions were still high. Upset over the closing of Sellwood Riverfront Park and the tactics at Irving Park, Binns led a protest march down Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, stopping in front of Chief Charles Moose's house. Over a bullhorn, Northeast Precinct Commander Derek Foxworth told the crowd to disperse. Disobeying the instructions, a group of 15 to 20 protesters continued southbound on MLK, walking toward six officers and their patrol cars that were blocking the road. Another group of about 40 reportedly followed close behind. When the group was within 25 feet, Officer Ollen Brook ordered the protestors to stop, then fired four rounds from a beanbag shotgun, hitting one person. The group dispersed, then returned, prompting Officer William Balzer to fire another beanbag round. There were no serious injuries, but six people, including Binns, were arrested. On Tuesday, neighborhood leaders, police and Binns' supporters held what by all accounts was a successful meeting to iron out their differences. Still, the events of last week remain a hot topic. Opinions differ regarding the police actions at the two parks on Sunday. While some said it was appropriate, others thought it went too far. "Everything was fine until the police came," said DeeDee Bradley, a 20-year-old Dishman employee. "People are going to get upset just because the police are standing there and watching them." If there is one area of agreement, it centers on the Monday protest. Even police supporters interviewed by WW believe that the cops may have overreacted. Richard Brown, a longtime community activist, thinks that the situation escalated partly because of the overwhelming police presence. "It felt tense because you have all these police out there in riot gear," he said. Where opinions diverge is over the role racial tensions played. Two views become clear when considering the stepped-up traffic enforcement at Irving Park. Foxworth called the tactic "enhanced vehicle-safety enforcement," a response to citizen complaints (including a 911 call from state Rep. Margaret Carter) about traffic congestion that day. To young people, it was pure harassment. One young black man told WW he received seven tickets that day. He and other young African-American men said they've grown accustomed to being targeted by police for seemingly no reason. "Police see black males and think we're always up to no good," said 20-year-old Robert Donaldson III. Several protesters told WW that the cops' attitude toward young black men was evident in a police accusation, printed in The Oregonian, that Daniel Binns has gang ties. Police have hinted that Binns is currently engaging in criminal behavior, but they can point to no current evidence. Ora Hart, a Northeast Portland realtor, said she is tired of seeing young African-American men indiscriminately branded. "I need to feel like if my black grandson waves an officer down, it's not going to be automatically assumed, because of what he has on, that he's a gang member," she said. But other people in the community see things differently. While he thought police overreacted Monday, Jeff Gamble said he wasn't bothered by their actions on Sunday. Gamble, who was running a youth-basketball tournament in Irving Park that day, said he didn't see partiers doing anything out of line, but he believes police have the right to enforce laws. "Everything is not racism," he said. "There's a difference between right and wrong. If a guy drives by and he's got expired tags or he's playing his music real loud, police have a right to stop him." As someone who has been stopped by police for no apparent reason, Gamble said he can understand the complaints of young African-American men. "I'm supportive of my community," he said. "But I have to be supportive of the police department, too, because they're protecting my children."
originally published August 26, 1998 |
