19 Portland Police Bureau Employees Liked the "I am Darren Wilson" Facebook Posts

Rich Storm status update
By MILLER RESOR

The three Portland Police officers reprimanded for creating Facebook posts showing their badges wrapped in the slogan "I am Darren Wilson" were not alone in their views.

Portland Police Officer Rich Storm posted his badge Saturday. The post received 32 "likes" before Chief Mike Reese ordered him to remove it Monday.

Photos captured of Storm's post show at least 19 of those "likes" came from within the bureau, and four came from other branches of Oregon law enforcement.

Storm, Rob Blanck and Kris Barber changed their Facebook pictures over the weekend in a show of support for white Ferguson, Mo., police officer Darren Wilson, who a grand jury decided last night will not be charged for the shooting death of black teenager Michael Brown.

Reese ordered the three officers to remove the images, and asked for the matter to be reviewed for “possible policy violations.” Mayor Charlie Hales said those three officers will not be assigned to Portland protests of the Ferguson grand jury ruling.

Portland Police spokesman Sgt. Pete Simpson tells WW he does not know if police employees who liked the picture would be under review as well.

“The policy issue is the display of the badge not the words that went with it,” he said. “I think Chief Reese was pretty clear in his statement that the use of the badge was the issue.”

Hales' spokesman Dana Haynes says officers who liked the picture won't be barred from policing the protests.

"The answer is probably no," Haynes tells WW. "Altering a badge is against city policy, just like I can't alter the Portland city flag and put Charlie Hales' face on it. But saying an opinion is a little bit different. We don't have a policy against saying, 'This is my opinion.' We'd go to court, and we'd lose."

WW gathered the names of law enforcement employees who liked the picture by reviewing screen captures of Storm's Facebook post. We then confirmed their employment status with the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training.

The following are the 23 law enforcement employees who clicked "like."

Meredith Hopper, Portland Police Bureau
Stephen Gandy, PPB
Tyson Estes, PPB
Rob Brown, PPB
Betsy Hornstein, PPB
Erin Anderson, PPB
Lisa Clayton, PPB
Chris Barker, PPB
Scherise Hobbs, PPB
Jack Hornstein, PPB
Thomas Brennan, PPB
Michael Currier, PPB
Jen Hertzler, PPB
Lacey Sparling, PPB
Thomas Larson, PPB
Zack Delong, PPB
David Rasmussen, PPB  
Sara Rilling Clark, PPB
Josh Uwah Ladd, PPB  
Darin Ladick, Oregon State Police
Micah Persons, Oregon Department of Justice, Criminal Justice Division
Brian Dunkin, Marion County Sheriff's Office
Scott Fink, Oregon Department of Corrections Transport Unit

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