Sixteen year old Thai Gurule was out late with his brother and another friend last September, walking down the sidewalk in his North Portland neighborhood when their party was illegally stopped by the Portland Police and questioned. Earlier that night there were reports of a group of:
seven to nine African American men, including one shirtless one, who had been walking the streets, reportedly damaging property and yelling profanities.
Both Gurule and his brother had large afros, none of the three were shirtless. The earlier calls to the police made no mention of the “distinctive” hairstyle. Knowing he had done nothing wrong to warrant questioning, Gurule proceeded to keep walking. Shortly thereafter the police resorted to their usual tactics: kicking, kneeing, punching, tazing, pulling hair and wrestling him to the ground. Thankfully, there were at least three
videos made of the incident.
Were it not for those videos and the pro bono legal defense of perhaps Portland’s most famous and accomplished criminal defense attorney, Steven Houze, the sixteen year old high school student would likely be spending time behind bars, his life perhaps permanently altered for the worse, all because of an overzealous police force that equates darker skin complexion with criminal activity.
Circuit Judge Diana Stuart was not impressed with the police work stating Officer:
"Hornstein was not credible in several important instances,"
Also from the article:
Hornstein claimed Gurule was throwing punches throughout the encounter, but that was clearly not the case from viewing the videos, the judge said. The videos also didn't show Gurule ever putting his arm around Hornstein's neck or throat and strangling her, as Hornstein had testified.
"It is clear that when the youth's arm came in contact with Officer Hornstein, his arm was around her shoulder ... not in any kind of choke hold," the judge said.
In perusing the comments on the O-Live article at least one commenter was adamant the real problem was the obvious curfew violation (because Gurule’s brother was not 21). However, from what I can ascertain from the police report, the third person in their group WAS 21 years of age so there would be/was no curfew violation.
Oh, I should not leave out the obligatory gnashing of teeth by the Portland Police Union President:
"What is most discouraging is that when police officers respond to a call, those officers must now be concerned that someone sitting in hindsight, from the safety of a courtroom, will not only question their actions, but also their credibility,"
But when the
Oregonian’s conservative Editorial Board comes out against the police, you can rest assured the bluster is only so much bull shit.