Portland State University Occupiers Protesting Fatal Shooting of Jason Washington Say They Will Stay Until the Officers Who Shot Him Are Fired

Since Monday afternoon, students and local activists have been gathering outside the Portland State University Campus Public Safety Office, in protest of the fatal shooting of Jason Washington by campus police in June.

A release today from the PSU Student Union says those occupiers plan to stay put until three specific demands are met.

Those demands include "the immediate disarmament of PSU campus officers," the firing of James Dewey and Shawn McKenzie, who shot Washington, and the installment of a "permanent memorial to Jason Washington" on campus.

Members of the protest, which the PSU Student Union calls "Occupation for Jason," began gathering yesterday for a rally and march.

Washington's widow, accompanied by her three daughters and Washington's brother, issued remarks at the rally, the Oregonian reports.

"His motto was God, family, friends and country," Michelle Washington said. "He was our everything. He was needlessly and violently taken from us."

A grand jury this month declined to indict Dewey and McKenzie the officers who shot Washington. Recently released body cam footage of the June 29 shooting, which occurred outside the downtown bar Cheerful Tortoise, shows Washington falling to the ground, then standing and holding a gun. Officers screamed at him to drop it, then fired.

Related: Body Camera Footage Shows PSU Campus Police Officers Fatally Shooting Man Holding Gun Outside Portland Bar

Occupiers blame a 2015 vote by PSU's board of trustees to arm campus police for Washington's death. They want to see that decision reversed.

"Members of the student union feel it is imperative to the #DisarmPSU campaign to continue to put pressure on the university by recalling the history of the undemocratic, irresponsible, violent and racist decision to arm campus security in June 2015," PSU Student Union's statement today reads, "and by publicly calling out those in power who are responsible for Jason Washington's death."

Kenny Ma, a spokesman for Portland State, says the university is reviewing its campus policing policy.

"Jason Washington's death has had a profound impact on the Portland State community, and the university recognizes the right to participate in peaceful protest," Ma says. "PSU has hired an independent security consulting firm to review campus safety policies and procedures, which will hold a series of public forums in the upcoming weeks on this issue to provide students, faculty, staff and the public opportunities to speak."