By Chaya Grossberg

Michael Samuel Bloom aka Sugarbear aka Mik-ee-poo
Born: October 13, 1978 (conceived during the great blizzard of 1978)
Died: 3/17/12 (during the great heat wave of Winter 2012)
Parents: Mama Bloom (Sandra) and Papa Bloom (Robert)
Brother: Daniel Bloom (Bobo)

As a preteen he had a big hairy mole on his neck and that was the first thing I noticed about him, though he had it removed early on.  In his earlier years he was on the chubby side and in his later years on the skinny side but what remained the same was he made everyone laugh?  He told me when he was skinny and quiet girls liked him more because he was more mysterious than when he was heavier and talked a lot.  In my earliest memories of him on the office porch or waterfront steps at Sandy Island, he was laughing about something, making fun of something, and that something usually included himself.  He liked to make fun of Jews, which we both were, and of course our families.  I can still hear him making fun of Mama Bloom and “Mama Grossberg” as well as “Papa Grossberg.”

As teenagers Michael and I both primarily had “friend” status with the opposite sex.  I thought I was too skinny, he may have thought he was too chubby.  There were other reasons, far more complex than body type for why we both remained virgins until college.  To the girls, he was the one we most wanted to talk to, but least wanted to kiss.  He had his crushes on most of us, but none seemed too serious, and perhaps, like me, he enjoyed “friend status” where conversations were often more interesting and everything felt a bit more sane at that age.  I’m not sure which came first, his nickname Sugarbear or his “perverted gesture” which was basically lifting up his arms and thrusting his pelvis.  We girls would ask him to do it over and over, never getting enough of it, cracking up every time.  Finally he refused to do it every time we asked for fear it would lose its novelty, but I’m not sure it ever did.

It was August of the summer before my first year at college so he was 19 and I was 17 when he came into my cabin and woke me up to watch the sunrise.  His idea the night before, others were supposed to be woken up too, but no one else would get out of bed, so it was just me and Michael Bloom.  Silent except for lightly crashing waves of Lake Winnipesaukee and morning ducks, we sat on the wooden waterfront chairs resting our arms on the armrests as the sun bounced off the lake and hit us in our faces.  Late August in New Hampshire the sun was warm even at 5AM, 6AM…by 7AM we could hear the sounds of kids being ushered to the bathrooms by parents mildly hustling to get everyone’s teeth brushed amidst Daddy Longlegs and muddy boot trackings on the bathroom floor, which could only stay clean for the first family.

But hours before the hubbub, Michael and I only saw the gleam of Lake Winnipesaukee, only heard the light waves, vocal ducks and each other’s voices talking about what it was like to go to college a virgin and feel like the only one. Even the ducks weren’t virgins!  Well, who knows, perhaps the baby ones were.  The warmth of the sun on our faces made everything okay.  The fact that it was silent except for us, the only 2 who followed the plan to wake up before sunrise since it was our only week together all year and though the days were long, filled with time to roam, the week was never long enough and before we knew it, it would be over.  We’d be back to our ordinary (or not so ordinary) lives where different ruled applied and there wasn’t a perfectly quiet lake to sit by with a friend we’d seen every summer for as long as we could remember summers.

Michael valued Sandy Island above all else, for it was where there was time to dream, meander, cry, have adventures…all in a timeless bubble, yet it seemed to create a time capsule by being repeated each year….a thread woven through our lives.  It was just one week a year, or two for some families, yet one week on an island can feel like eternity-until it ends.  It can feel like a timeless place where what you discuss floats along the tide, the lake whispers things to you.  You may not know just who it is you are talking to or what they wear in their everyday world, but you know for the moment you are lifelong friends, you know this is important, to carve out time away from everything else to ponder mysteries, act out rebellions, make up jokes, give everyone a strange nickname, and laugh as the sun bubbles up.

In college at Rutgers, Michael met Andrea who he called “The Big A” (are you noticing a theme of nicknames for everyone?) and developed a romance with.  Their connection was strong enough that she tried to contact him in recent years, nearly 15 years later!  Sometime in his first few years at Rutgers, Michael had some extreme states ranging from joyful ecstasy for his new connections with people to utter despair at the state of the world.  These were on the continuum of what many young adults touch upon as they come to know the freedoms and burdens of adulthood, yet he experienced them in a more extreme way than many do.  I certainly had my own extreme states of awakening and despair at a similar age, and similarly experienced them in heightened way (though my specifics were different).

I visited him at Rutgers where he was sociable and excited about connecting with just about everyone we passed in the hall.  This was different from high school where he had a small group of friends and didn’t socialize much outside of it.  In college he seemed high on life, on meeting new people and engaging with everyone he could.  But these states were sometimes followed by states of despair at the state of the world, which led to a suicide attempt and landed him in the hospital.

“Life on Lithium is totally boring,” he told me after that, “but it saved my life and I may need to be on a small dose of it for the rest of my life.”  He said many times that without it he could become suicidal again, which clearly was not a risk he was willing to take and it was hard to argue with that.  “On Lithium, I don’t feel the highs and excitement I used to feel, but I don’t feel the lows as much, so it’s keeping me alive.”  In the years to come whenever I suggested the Lithium could be causing some of his problems (apathy, boredom, constant unhappiness, being disinterested in everything and sometimes unable to connect with people), he would come emphatically back to this exclamation, “Lithium saved my life,” angry that I didn’t seem to get how true that was for him.  Despite that we were both raised by East Coast Jews who put Western medicine on a pedestal, we took very different paths to address our “mental health” and sometimes seemed to have opposing views.

Michael’s mom was a nurse and his father a professor of science or history (I forget which).  My mom was a math teacher and social worker and my father a dentist.  My parents had a hair more skepticism of psychiatry, for my father became a dentist rather than another type of doctor in part so he’d be less influenced by pharmaceutical company corruption and my mother was trained as a therapist before the Prozac-is-aspirin years.  She had an uneasiness about drugging mental distress from the first time my therapist referred me to an expensive psychiatrist when I was 15.

I steered away from allopathic doctors, finding I didn’t trust them and I was a seeker of the alternative early on.  In my teens I became vegetarian, practiced yoga and meditation (which I first learned from books, then classes) and stopped taking the Prozac my therapist recommended.  In college, I studied herbalism, nutrition and everything I could get my hands on about alternative healing and spirituality.  From a young age, my spirituality was connected to my body, my breath, what I ate or consumed, what surrounded me.

Michael’s interests and path were entirely different, though not incompatible with mine for he had a passion for art and philosophy and was one of the biggest dreamers I knew.  Yet, over the next 10 years, he seemed to gradually decline in energy levels, happiness aliveness and functionality.  I saw him at least a handful of times in these years, for his brother went to school in the same town as me, and he visited us every so often.  On one nighttime visit when I was still in college we walked around the cemetery in Amherst, MA, where Emily Dickinson was buried and he asked me if I’d marry him someday, if we were both single when we were 30, or something like that .  We were disagreeing and debating and he commented that we sounded like a married couple-a married East Coast Jewish couple like our parents, anyway.

On another visit he came to a Freedom Center Northampton meeting with me when I was withdrawing from the cocktail of psychiatric drugs I’d been put on the previous year and having insomnia.  He asked skeptical questions about the Freedom Center, how people “like us” lived without psychiatric drugs, and we had many debates on the phone about mental health diagnoses, the pharmaceutical industry, what we believed.  These disagreements were both meaningful and frustrating for me.  Michael said that he had bipolar and a lot of people were pressuring him to just get a job or go out, get out of his own mind, but they didn’t get that he had a real illness that actually limited him the same way a physical illness can.

Although this was not exactly my explanation of him (I saw him as a sensitive, hilarious genius with unlimited potential stuck in a rut due to lithium, fear, an indoctrinated limiting view, not enough support and a number of other factors), it was when he tried to define me in a similar framework that I could not stay silent.  Mike frequently asked me what my diagnosis was and whether I was taking anything, which was bait for the fat fish of my own story.

At around the same time as lithium was credited with saving his life, the drugs I was on (Risperdal, Buspar, Effexor, Ambien, Prozac and Xanax) nearly killed me and rendered me unable to think, function, or even move much of the time.  I told Michael this many times, along with sharing my lack of belief diagnoses, how they never helped me understand myself or the world better, and emphasized diagnoses were created to sell drugs, which he couldn’t argue with.  Sometimes once we got that far in the conversation, he seemed humbled a bit and perhaps relieved.

Still, I was the only person in his entire world who believed the Lithium was harming him or even questioned its efficacy.  He told me sometimes all he could do was chain smoke and watch movies, but there also came a time when movies no longer did it for him and there was nothing.  He lived in Hawaii for a few years, but hated it and returned to live with his father in West Newton, MA until his suicide in 2012.  He had various jobs over the years from being a mailman (which was one of his childhood dreams!) to working in the census office and in Hawaii he volunteered at a museum.  In the few years leading up to his death, he went to DBSA meetings (Depression Bipolar Support Alliance which is a pet of Big Pharma that “supports” the medical model view and unquestioned psychiatric labeling) but felt no one there was smart enough for him and they were too entrenched in the system.  I imagine they were highly drugged, more so than Michael.

When he returned from Hawaii, which was several years before his suicide, his mom developed tinnitus, ringing in the ears, that was unbearable to her, Michael told me.  This led to her suicide in 2008.  I couldn’t help but wonder if she had been psychiatrically diagnosed and drugged and if the drugs had been a contributing factor in her suicide.  I was still living in Northampton, MA (sister town to Amherst) at the time without a car so when I got the call about Mama Bloom I booked a bus ticket to Boston right away.  Michael and I hadn’t seen each other since before he had moved to Hawaii, so it had been quite a few years and he had been hard to reach by phone that summer.

When I saw him at the funeral my heart rushed open and I cried, we both cried as we embraced, my heart so full of love for my old friend.  He looked and felt better than I’d expected him to and he later told me how good it was to have family and friends around but how hard it was when they went back to their busy lives weeks later.  Michael’s younger brother read something Michael had written about their mom at the funeral, which made me so proud of who he was.  I realized also that he was surprised and moved that I had come as I was the only non-relative who traveled from outside the Boston area to come, although I still wasn’t very far away.  It was that moment when we hugged under the canopy, next to the rabbi, that I felt the true meaning of friendship-of being part of someone’s heart and knowing your presence does in fact make a difference.  And what a difference that made to me!

Michael held friendship as one of the highest values in life, higher than work or even marriage, it seemed.  He frequently told me how disturbed he was by our society being so isolated into couples and not staying loyal to friends much of the time.  Friendship was perhaps his most important criteria for a romantic relationship as well.  Though there were a couple of times he expressed interest in being more than friends with me I never felt that get in the way of our friendship as it seems to with everyone else.  I never felt awkward or like he needed more.

Over the years following Mama Bloom’s death, Michael seemed to sink deeper into despair and then apathy.  Frequently his phone messages were in a flat tone and said, “I hope you are okay.”  He could no longer say “I hope you are good.” for being good, or anything beyond okay was no longer in his frame of reference.  There were countless messages from him saying he hoped I was “okay,” and the way he said “okay,” I knew he was striving for just that.

He also told me the shrinks were changing around his drugs and adding more.  They added an antidepressant or two to the lithium and increased doses and eventually he seemed to have very little life left in him.  Our phone calls became trying for he was so down, practically dead sounding a lot of the time, and I felt unable to do anything or say anything to make a difference.  To even try felt futile and I wondered if talking to me at all was becoming the burden of yet another person he couldn’t connect with.

In the early years, he liked to think of us as being in the same boat, both mentally ill, since I’d also had a meltdown and I also am extremely sensitive and go through extreme states.  But as the years went by, especially towards the end, I seemed to be in the ever growing “other” camp in his eyes, which meant I was yet another person who didn’t get what it was like to be him.  And at that point I can confirm I did not, and perhaps did not want to.

When Bobo, Mike’s brother, called me one morning and left a voice mail saying there’s something he needed to tell me, I was on a walk and on the other line talking to my friend and coworker Jenny.  Since Bobo doesn’t call me ordinarily I knew it couldn’t be good news.  I had called him once several years earlier when I was concerned about Mike, after we had a big argument-perhaps our biggest ever.  It had to do with his time in Hawaii and I was at Sunset Beach in San Francisco feeling lonely.  Michael had yelled at me and gotten enraged about how horrible Hawaii was.  He compared California to Hawaii and said he hated that culture, hated the people on the West Coast and kept asking when I was coming back to the East Coast, when I was coming back to my real home.  I had no intention of coming back to live on the East coast again, ever, once I moved to the West Coast.  I got angry that he asked me that every single time we talked, since I was lonely and wanted to talk about other things, like what was actually going on in my life, and his.

Something in me knew what Bobo was going to say.  When we got off the phone (all I had said was “Oh My God” over and over-like the opposite of an orgasm) my pulse was racing as I walked through the Whole Foods parking lot back to my car.  I had an acupuncture appointment, should I go? The idea of being physically alone was too daunting so I went.  Katie said my pulse was rapid and it had never been rapid before in our 5 months of weekly sessions.  I cried on the table and finally blurted it out, “One of my closest lifelong friends just committed suicide.  And I just found out.”  The small room seemed filled with his spirit and I swung between feeling the despair he must have felt and the joy and liberation he must have felt.  I saw him dancing on clouds with kiddie-boppers (his endearing term for children) and I saw him cutting his wrists in his basement.

When I got home that day I didn’t leave my house for 2 whole days.  I texted everyone I could think of and asked friends to come visit me the next day since I couldn’t bring myself to go out and I could not be physically alone.  All night the image of bloody wrists haunted me.  Bobo had asked if I was sure I wanted to know how he did it and I’d said yes- I knew I had to know.  That night I called my mom around 1am, 4am her time in New York.  I cried and told her over and over how freaked out I was.  She said she had to get off the phone, asked me if I had a Valium I could take to get to sleep but I said “NO, I need you to listen to me.”  Strangely, she didn’t remember Michael, though they surely met in New York and she had made an impression on him, with her thick Bronx accent, which he carried with him and mimicked to from time to time.

The following day was Friday and Jenny and Nina (my oldest friend, who I have known since I was a few weeks old) came over with pastries and coffee.  We sat in my yard in the sun and I talked about everything I could remember about him: tidbits of memories like his favorite song (America by Simon and Garfunkel), his favorite line in it (about the New Jersey Turnpike) and the Billy Joel song that played in the car the last time I saw him (You May Be Right) and how I used that song to defend myself when he made fun of my personality.  “You may be right, I may be crazy, but it just may be a lunatic you’re looking for.”

Later CJ came over.  We said a prayer holding hands and spoke to his spirit.  After that I felt more ease and eventually he came to me in a waking dream state and told me death is like an airport-you go into different terminals and resolve things, come to understandings with all of the people in your life and you fly to different places.  Gradually the tormented feelings I’d had faded, as did the “high” feelings, where I experienced the world as he did in his most passionate moments.

I told Michael I loved him once or twice and he responded, “Do I have to say I love you too?”  I said no, and didn’t feel hurt.  On a walk the other day, I thought of the cliché, “It’s better to have loved and lost that to have never loved at all,” and decided it was true.  I actually had to think about it, considering how painful loss can be, but nonetheless it must be true.

From The Skanner, July 30, 2012

Felesia Otis says it’s hard to pinpoint the moment when her son Keaton became mentally ill. As a Benson High School student he had lots of friends and loved life.

Keaton was artistic, interested in photography, graphic design and poetry. After leaving school, he designed and produced tee-shirts and jackets. He also lived with cousins in Canada, for a couple of years.

Felesia Otis

Eventually, he planned to go college and get a degree. But gradually, in his early 20s he slipped into psychosis.

“He could do all the normal things – he could go to the store. By the time we realized he was starting to lose touch with reality, and he was going to need some help, he’d been struggling for some time.”

Keaton had always had a suspicious streak, Otis says. The family would even tease him about it. But from an endearing character trait, Keaton’s suspicion morphed into paranoia. He began to spend more and more time alone in his room, even avoiding friends and family.

He would worry if a strange car parked across the street, or if anyone came to the door.

“It was subtle little things. We’d dismiss it as just Keaton being a little paranoid,” Otis says.

Because Keaton was talking less and less, it took a long time before his family realized he believed people were tunneling under the family home and spying on them.

“The more unsafe he felt and the more anxious he was, the worse his delusions got,” Otis says. “As a family member, you’re just in shock because it’s not rational for your child to believe that.

“He wouldn’t see his aunts and uncles; he wouldn’t see anybody. He had really changed,” Otis says. “He stopped talking. He wouldn’t say much more than a sentence. It’s like you don’t recognize them when they get to that place. They’re so not what they used to be.”

Signs along the way had pointed to Keaton’s vulnerability to psychosis. He had attention deficit disorder, which increased his stress at school. At 14, he asked for help because he realized he was depressed. Depression, anxiety and mood instability increase the risk of psychosis. Unfortunately, the doctor he saw had the mistaken idea that adolescents don’t get depressed.

Keaton Otis

“Provider lack of knowledge is a whole other issue,” Otis says.

Keaton eventually did see a psychiatric nurse practitioner and agreed to try medications. But without health insurance, no other services were available. He had to apply for a “scholarship” to get medication and his choices were limited to samples. The ones he tried had unpleasant side effects and he felt that they interfered with his ability to be an artist.

“It turned him off to the medication,” Otis said.

Otis says she wishes she had been able to contact a program like EASA, which supports youth going through a first psychosis and also works with families.

“You have might have one opportunity to get it right so you want to make sure it’s the best opportunity at the best time. To me, I think EASA would have been the right thing for Keaton.”

Support outside the family is essential, Otis says, because a young adult won’t tell his parents everything. And it is easier for a professional to suggest treatment.

“They can take on that difficult role of helping that young person weigh out their choices,” she says. “And if they get too ill, then they can look at hospitalization. So that takes the family out of that struggle and allows them to be the loving support they want to be.”

The mental health system is so broken that families can’t get help, Otis says, even when their loved ones are as ill as Keaton was. When sufferers are so caught up in their delusions that they don’t realize they are ill, (a condition called anasognosia) they can refuse treatment unless they meet the criteria for involuntary commitment.

Legally in Oregon, that means they must be so ill they are dangerous to themselves or others, or at imminent risk of death because of their illness. In Multnomah County that law is defined very strictly.

So when Keaton stopped eating and dropped 50 lbs– at 6 foot 4 inches tall he was 145 lbs – the family was told he still did not meet commitment criteria.

Soon after, tragedy struck. On May 12, 2010, Keaton was stopped by police when driving. A gang enforcement officer decided he might be a gang member because he was a young Black male wearing a hoodie on a warm day.

Keaton’s father, Fred Bryant, questions the rest of the official story. What’s not under dispute is that police shot and killed Keaton in his car. In June 2011 The Department of Justice launched a civil rights investigation into Portland Police Department’s officer involved shootings of people with mental illness.

Keaton’s family was still trying to get help for him when he died.

Felesia Otis and her husband Joseph Otis are determined to push for change. They are creating a nonprofit, Friends of Keaton, which will offer support and education to family members of people with psychosis. The group also will advocate to make sure Oregon’s healthcare exchanges include prevention services like the EASA program, that provides support and wraparound services to help people recover.

The EASA program offers support to youth and families dealing with mental illness. Contrary to previous beliefs about psychosis, medication is not always necessary and two of every three people recover completely. Psychiatrist Neil Falk says psychosis is like “a heart attack of the brain” and requires similar time and support to achieve recovery

Psychiatrist Neil Falk, who works with EASA in Multnomah County, says three out of every hundred people will suffer from a psychosis, but two of those three will recover completely with support. Psychosis generally strikes young people between the ages of 15 and 25.

The one in a hundred people who develop a lifelong psychotic illness usually can learn to deal with the symptoms and build a normal life, Falk says.

As clinical director with Volunteers of America’s prison re-entry program, Otis understands the intersection between the mental health system and our jails.

Mentally ill people should not be ending up in jail, she says, because they are too sick to know they are breaking a law. But since they often do go to jail, treatment should be better coordinated.

“If you know someone is bipolar, and you send them out of jail with no services and no way to get meds, or just a week of meds, then you’re setting them up to fail,” she says.

The Otis family has heard from other families whose experiences mirror their own. One family spent $20,000 getting power of attorney, simply to get a loved one into hospital. But once released, he rejected them and disappeared.

“He doesn’t trust them now because he’s equating them with the hospital,” Otis says. “That is a position no family should be in, but it happens all the time.”

A lot of problems –and expensive long-term treatment – could be avoided through prevention and early intervention services such as the EASA program, Otis says.

“If we could rethink how we deal with psychosis and be proactive not reactive, we would not wait till people’s lives have totally fallen apart so we can help them piece it back together.”

Contact the Multnomah County EASA program at: 503-988-5870

Or through the 24/7 crisis mental health line: 503-988-4888

One dead in Portland officer-involved shooting

From KGW.com, July 28, 2012

A police officer opened fire on a shooting suspect’s car causing it to slam into an apartment in north Portland Saturday, authorities said.

The Special Emergency Response Team was called to the scene and determined that the driver was dead, said Lt. Robert King of the Portland Police Bureau.

Police were looking for a dark colored car after the driver reportedly shot at another vehicle with five people inside near Southeast 122nd Avenue and Southeast Division at 12:30 p.m., King said.

Police were searching for two white male suspects in their 20s who were in the suspect car. Officers learned the car was at a convenience store near North Columbia Way and North Fessenden Street, King said.

Police conducted a high risk traffic stop, and one passenger got out and cooperated with officers, but the driver of the car pulled out onto North Fessenden Street, King said.

An officer then fired his weapon at the car, which then drove through an exterior wall and into an apartment, King said.

The apartment was unoccupied and no one was inured.

The white adult male driver was killed.

One person was taken into custody.

Police identify victim from officer-involved shooting

From The Oregonian, July 29, 2012

Billy Wayne Simms, 28, was killed by Officer Justin Clary in North Portland.

The deceased man from Saturday’s officer-involved shooting has been identified as 28-year-old Billy Wayne Simms.

The officer involved is Officer Justin Clary, a 10-year veteran of the Portland Police Bureau assigned to North Precinct.

Clary fatally wounded Simms in North Portland Saturday, just an hour after an occupant of the same car allegedly fired at a vehicle in southeast Portland.

Simms then smashed into the exterior wall of a nearby apartment, where he was found dead.

The incident began with officers responding to a call of a shooting at Southeast Division and 122nd Avenue.

Investigators learned that five people were in the car that was shot at on 122nd at Southeast Division. The car contained 47-year-old Paul Polen and four other occupants ranging in age from 14 to 23.

Investigators believe Simms shot at Polen and the other occupants before officers arrived on the scene. They have also learned that Simms is believed to be one of three suspects involved in an armed robbery of marijuana on July 23 from a residence located in the 10400 block of Southwest Division St.

The victim of the robbery gave officers the license plate of the suspect vehicle that matched Simms’ car.

Simms was identified again as a suspect again on July 20 by attempting to pass a counterfeit $20 at the McDonalds at 10050 S.W. Barbur Blvd.

Investigators have processed the suspect vehicle for evidence and found a handgun in the car.

The investigation is continuing, but the Multnomah County Districts Attorney’s Office will convene a Grand Jury. The Portland Police Bureau will also conduct an Internal Affairs Investigation following the Grand Jury.

Detectives are asking anyone with information about this case to contact Detective Rico Beniga at 503-823-0457.

Police ID man killed in officer-involved shooting

From KOIN.com, July 30, 2012

SERT officers at the scene of the shooting.

Police have identified the man killed by a Portland police officer Saturday afternoon as 28-year-old Billy Wayne Simms.

Police said an officer opened fire during a high risk stop in the parking lot of a 7-11 and Shell gas station on North Columbia Way and North Fessenden.

Lt. Robert King, spokesman for the Portland Police Bureau, said Simms was wanted for an attempted shooting earlier in the day near Southeast Stark and 122nd. When officers spotted the car Simms had been driving, they tried to stop him and another suspect as they were leaving 7-11.

King said one of the men cooperated but Simms didn’t comply, instead officers say he drove away and was shot by Portland police officer Justin Clary, a 10-year veteran.After Clary fired, Simms crashed the car into an apartment building across the street. Simms was pronounced dead at the scene.

No one was home, but next door neighbor, Meka Curry, said she heard four or five shots then what felt like an earthquake.

“The shots came first then the car,” Curry said.

Investigators said five people were in the car Simms is accused of shooting at in Southeast Portland.

Simms family released a statement Sunday night saying:

After receiving several phone calls informing us our family member had been shot by the police, we rushed to the scene only to sit and wait for SEVEN HOURS before we were given confirmation that the deceased was, in fact, our family member Billy Simms. The lack of information from the Portland Police Bureau was very disrespectful to an entire family including nieces, nephews, and a younger brother who was receiving information through twitter and other media outlets. Other family sitting at the scene had to endure the unknown as they watched the body being pulled from the vehicle at a distance, still unsure if the victim was indeed related to us.

Investigators believe Simms was involved in an armed robbery of a marijuana grow at a home in the 10400 block of Southwest Division on July 23. Officers said three suspects stole marijuana plants from a man at gunpoint, firing a shot inside the house before leaving. The victim in the marijuana robbery gave police a vehicle description matching the vehicle Simms was driving Saturday afternoon when he was shot at 7-11.

Detectives believe Simms was also involved in an incident at McDonald’s, located at 10050 Southwest Barbur Boulevard, on July 20 when suspects tried to use counterfeit twenty dollar bills. Witnesses from McDonald’s also described the same vehicle Simms was driving Saturday.

Several North Portland streets were closed for more than nine hours Saturday as homicide investigators looked into the shooting.  Police Chief Mike Reese and Mayor Sam Adams were on scene Saturday afternoon.

Portland police officer placed on paid administrative leave after fatal shooting

From The Oregonian, July 29, 2012

The man whom a police officer fatally shot Saturday was believed to be involved in several recent crimes, Portland police said Sunday.

The dead man, Billy Wayne Simms, 28, of Portland, was shot by Justin Clary, a 10-year veteran of the Portland Police Bureau assigned to North Precinct.

Clary shot Simms in North Portland on Saturday as Simms was driving away from a 7-Eleven on North Fessenden Street. After Clary fired, the vehicle the wounded Simms was driving smashed into the exterior wall of a nearby apartment, where he was found dead.

Police aren’t saying whether Simms showed a gun or what threat he posed at the time. Lt. Robert King, a police spokesman, declined to say what prompted Clary to shoot.

The investigation is pending and Clary is on paid administrative leave, King said.

The incident began with officers responding to a call that the driver of one car had shot at another car at Southeast Division and 122nd Avenue.

Paul Polen, 47, and four others ranging in age from 14 to 23, were in the car that was fired on. They were not injured.

Investigators believe Simms shot at the car before officers arrived on the scene.

About an hour later, police learned that the car involved in that shooting was in the parking lot of the 7-Eleven. When the occupants of the vehicle came out of the store, Simms fled in the vehicle and was shot.

He is also believed to be one of three suspects involved in menacing with a gun about 12:20 p.m. Saturday at a residence in the 14100 block of Southeast Division. This was immediately before the shooting at 122nd and Division.

Police said Simms was thought to be one of three suspects involved in an armed robbery of marijuana July 23 from a growing operation at a residence in the 10400 block of Southeast Division Street, police said.

In that case officers learned that three suspects stole marijuana plants at gunpoint and one of the suspects fired a gun in the house before leaving. No one was injured.

The robbery victim gave officers the license plate of the suspect vehicle and it matched the car Simms was driving at the 7-Eleven.

And Simms was identified as a suspect when a man attempted to pass a counterfeit $20 bill July 20 at a McDonald’s at 10050 S.W. Barbur Blvd. In Portland.

After Saturday’s fatal shooting, investigators processed the suspect vehicle for evidence and found a handgun.

The Multnomah County district attorney’s office will convene a grand jury in the case.

The Portland Police Bureau also will conduct an internal affairs investigation into the shooting.

Detectives ask anyone with information about this case to contact Detective Rico Beniga at 503-823-0457.

Police identify man killed by officer in north Portland

From KPTV.com, July 30, 2012

Portland police have released the names of the people involved in Saturday’s deadly officer-involved shooting.

Police said 28-year-old Billy Wayne Simms was shot by Officer Justin Clary, who is a 10-year veteran of the police bureau.

Detectives spent all evening investigating a case of road rage that ended when they said Clary fatally shot Simms in north Portland.

Lt. Robert King, a spokesman with the Portland Police Bureau, reports that officers responded to the area of Southeast 122nd and Division at 12:28 p.m. to reports of shots fired in the area.

Police said Simms was the driver of a dark-colored car who shot a handgun at another car that had three innocent people in it as they traveled south on 122nd.

Police soon came across the car with Simms inside at a 7-11 parking lot in north Portland.

Investigators said officers confronted two men who had been in the car as they left the store.

“One suspect complied and was taken into custody, and one man got in the car, started it and drove out of the lot. In the course of the encounter, one officer fired his weapon,” said King in a news release.

The car ended up crossing Fessenden and crashing into an unoccupied unit in an apartment building.

“It felt like we had an earthquake right after that,” said Meka Curry, who was in the apartment next to the one that was hit.

After the car came to a stop, police called out the Special Emergency Reaction Team (SERT) to assist with taking the suspect into custody.

Police said that after SERT made contact with Simms, paramedics determined he was already dead.

A spokesman said it was too early to tell if the suspect fired any shots at the officers or if he returned fire. Neighbors told FOX 12 that they heard multiple gunshots.

“I heard like six shots like three, ‘Boom, boom, boom,’ and then like, ‘Boom, boom, boom,’” said Mike Conway, who lives nearby.

The investigation continues.

‘They approach the situation like they’re trained to’

From KATU.com, July 30, 2012

A driver was shot by police Saturday afternoon in a deadly officer-involved shooting.

The incident began in Southeast Portland and ended in North Portland, where a car crashed into an apartment building after an officer fired at the driver.

The driver was killed but until police could confirm that, they waited with guns drawn and activated their Special Emergency Response Team (SERT).

Police believed the man, and the car he was in, were involved in a shooting in Southeast Portland a couple of hours earlier.

“You basically have like innocent citizens in their car driving at 122nd and Stark and they’re shot at,” said Lt. Robert King, spokesman for the Portland Police Bureau.

The investigation led police to the suspect vehicle parked in front of a 7-Eleven store in North Portland.

“They approach the situation like they’re trained to,” said King. “To conduct these high risk stops where they call people out and they have them at gunpoint. And one person did get out of the car and cooperate but it was the driver who backed out and pulled away.”

Witnesses said they then heard between four and eight shots. Police have not confirmed how many shots there were, but they did say that just one officer fired a weapon.

“They just unleashed on him,” said witness Robbie Mills. “Never seen anything like it in my life.”

The car ended up crashing into an unoccupied apartment. Right next door, in the same building, Meka Curry and her children felt the impact.

“It sounded like an earthquake,” Curry said. “That’s what we thought – that it sounded like an earthquake.”

Here’s the Portland Police Bureau’s account of what happened, including a correction that was later sent out:

Correction: Officers confronted two men who had been in the suspect car as they exited the Seven Eleven. One suspect complied and was taken into custody and one man got in the car, started it and drove out of the lot. In the course of the encounter, one officer fired his weapon.

On Saturday, July 28, 2012 at 12:28 p.m. Portland Police officers assigned to East Precinct responded to a call of a shooting at Southeast Division and 122nd Avenue. Initial information was that the driver of a dark colored car shot a handgun at another car that contained three people as they traveled south on 122nd Avenue. The suspect car was believed to be occupied with three white males in their twenties.

Officers learned through their investigation that the suspect car was in the area of Columbia and North Fessenden. Officers arrived in the area and saw the suspect car in the 7-Eleven parking lot. Because this car and its occupants had just shot at another car officers conducted a high risk traffic stop.

One passenger got out and cooperated with officers but the driver of the car pulled out of the lot and drove onto Fessenden. In the course of the stop one Portland Police Officer fired his weapon. Following the shot the car drove across Fessenden and through an exterior wall and into an apartment. The apartment was unoccupied and no one was injured.

After the car came to a stop in the apartment Officers called the SERT Team (Special Emergency Reaction Team) to the scene to assist in taking the suspect into custody. Once SERT made contact with the driver they had Portland Fire paramedics check the drivers condition and they learned he was deceased. The driver is a white adult male.

Supervisors on scene called the Police Bureau Homicide Detectives to the scene to conduct the officer-involved shooting investigation.

The Multnomah County District Attorneys Office and the Director on the Independent Police Review Division were on scene as well along with Police Chief Mike Reese and Mayor Sam Adams.

The suspect who was shot dead was later identified as 28-year-old Billy Wayne Simms.

The incident was the second officer-involved shooting in the last week and a half. On July 17, police shot a 17-year-old boy in Southeast Portland. The teenager survived.

Police: Suspect shot by officer had been showing off handgun
Police: Suspect runs during ‘high risk’ stop, later shot at by officers

Police Training in These Types of Situations

There is no hard and fast rule when it comes to Oregon law enforcement shooting at people in vehicles. Officers are trained to consider the back stop (who and what is around them) as they open fire and who might be injured by a stray bullet.

They are also trained to consider the big picture of the situation, which can include the type of person who is fleeing and whether that person would pose an imminent threat to the life of the officer or others in the area.

Firing at someone in a vehicle can be a sticky situation for police. For example, the 2003 shooting death of Kendra James prompted her family to sue the city for $10 million.

James was a passenger in a car that was pulled over for a traffic violation in Northeast Portland near Interstate 5.

Officer Scott McCollister said he shot and killed her when she jumped in the driver’s seat and tried to get away. He said he feared he or another officer would be killed, although James was not armed.

Both a Multnomah County grand jury and a federal jury found that the officer’s actions were justified and her family lost the lawsuit.

McCollister returned to the force and received $18,000 in back pay for the six months that he was suspended without pay.

In 2004, Officer Jason Sery shot James Jahar Perez three times during a traffic stop in North Portland.

According to court testimony, Perez ignored police commands and reached into his pants pocket. Sery thought he was reaching for a gun. It turned out he wasn’t.

“I remember seeing him glance over, shift in his seat to move his leg and get better access to his pocket,” Sery testified at the time. “I remember his hand going deep in his pocket. I remember starting to scream ‘I’m going to shoot, I’m going to shoot – get your hand out, I’m going to shoot.’ ”

Sery was cleared of wrongdoing three times and four years later he joined the Beaverton Police Department as one of its police officers.

The City of Portland settled a wrongful death lawsuit with Perez’ family for $350,000.

Of course, those cases were different from this one. In this instance, the suspects were armed.

Vigil for man shot and killed by police

From KPTV.com, July 31, 2012

Billy Simms memorial July 30, 2012

Family and friends gathered at the site of a crash in north Portland to remember a man shot and killed by police.

They left signs and candles on North Fessenden Street Monday night in memory of Billy Simms.

Police said they tried to pull over Simms in connection with a road rage shooting on Saturday. But according to officers, he drove off.

That’s when officer Justin Clary took a shot at the car, killing Simms and causing the car to crash into an apartment building.

No one else was hurt.

People who knew Simms are still in shock.

Friends described him as a good dad, a good friend and someone who cared about the people around him.

He was the father of four children.

His family released a statement saying, “Billy had been working hard to confront his demons and had recently graduated from rehab.”

Police said Simms shot at a car full of people at Southeast 122nd and Division on Saturday afternoon in a case of road rage.

Simms was also a suspect in an armed robbery at a marijuana grow house the week prior.

The victim in that robbery case gave officers the suspect’s license plate number, which matched the car Simms was driving when police said he fired at that car full of people on Saturday.

Family of man shot by police wants answers

From KGW.com, July 30, 2012

Family of the man shot and killed by police last weekend said they’re outraged over how officers dealt with the suspect and his relatives.

Police said Billy Simms, 28, was attempting to elude officers who were chasing him for allegedly firing a gun at a car with five occupants inside. An officer fired at Simms and he later died of gunshot wounds, according to Lt. Robert King of the Portland Police Bureau.

Family members said they sat at the scene and pleaded for information for seven hours, even watching a body bag taken away and wondering if it was Billy.

“During the seven hours we were not given any further information,” family members said in a written statement released to the media. “After demanding to speak to a sergeant or person in charge, a female officer approached our family still unable to inform us if in fact Billy was the involved party.”

Family members said they were finally informed that Billy was dead just before 1 a.m. They said he was a loving father of 4 who had recently completed rehabilitation, and did not deserve to be gunned down by police.

“Billy had been working hard to confront his demons and as recent as 6 months ago graduated from rehab, something we were all very proud of him for,” the family statement said. “Billy’s life could have been saved if Portland police thought of him as a person, not a felon.”

Investigators said Simms was suspected of menacing with a gun at a Southeast Portland home just before the alleged shooting. He was also suspected of trying to use counterfeit money at a Portland McDonald’s restaurant on July 20 and police believe he was involved in the robbery of a medical marijuana growing operation on July 23rd.

Issue of firing at moving cars examined in fatal shooting by Portland police

From The Oregonian, July 30, 2012

This impromptu memorial developed in North Portland near the spot where Billy Wayne Simms, 28, was fatally shot by police on Saturday.

The Portland Police Bureau will evaluate whether a North Precinct officer who on Saturday fatally shot a motorist who then crashed into an apartment building acted within bureau policy that restricts officers from shooting at moving vehicles.

The 3-year-old policy says that an officer “shall not” fire at someone who is in a moving vehicle unless at least one of the following conditions is met:

• It’s necessary “to counter an active threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or another person, by a person in the vehicle, using means other than the vehicle.”
• There are no other means available to avert or eliminate the threat.

Even if one of those conditions is met, officers are instructed before firing to consider the location, the surrounding vehicle and pedestrian traffic and the risk to innocent bystanders.

The officer, Justin Clary, a 10-year bureau veteran, is on paid administrative leave while an investigation continues.

On Monday, the fiancee of the man who was shot and killed, Billy Wayne Simms, 28, voiced concerns about the police shooting as a memorial grew at the scene.

“It could have been dealt with a totally different way,” said the fiancée, Jeannie Lovett, 38.

Portland police say they believed Simms had shot at another car in Southeast Portland on Saturday.

North Precinct police spotted the car Simms was thought to be driving, at the 7-Eleven at 6840 N. Fessenden St. Officers confronted two men as they left the convenience store. One man was taken into custody, police said, while Simms got into the car, started it and drove away.

“In the course of the encounter, one officer fired his weapon,” police said in a news release.

Police said Clary fatally wounded Simms, who then drove into a fenced yard and through a sliding glass door of a two-story apartment building. Police found him dead at the scene.

The Police Bureau has not said whether Simms showed a gun or what threat he posed at the time. Investigators processing the crime scene later found a handgun in the vehicle.

It remained unclear whether Clary shot Simms before or after he got behind the wheel of the car.

Lovett said she was upset by the way police handled the confrontation with Simms.

“Just because there was an assumption that he had a gun earlier, before the whole incident, didn’t mean that he had a gun at the time that he was caught at 7-Eleven,” she said.

Lovett said she and Simms had a 19-month-old daughter together and were picking a date to be married. Lovett said someone called her about the shooting on Saturday, and she arrived at the scene shortly afterward.

Police had said one suspect was in custody and one was dead. Lovett caught a glimpse of the man being arrested, and one thing became clear to her.

“It sure wasn’t Billy that was going to jail,” she said.

Janie Althaus, third from left, was among about 70 people who attended a candlelight vigil for Billy Wayne Sims II, 28, who was fatally shot by police on Saturday. Althaus is one of Simms’ sisters.

Meka Curry, who was home in a neighboring unit of the apartment that Simms ended up driving into, heard more than four gunshots. Then she felt the impact as the car rammed the tan building. Her boyfriend, six-year-old daughter and 3-month-old son were home with her, she said.

“I went straight into shock,” Curry said Monday, her eyes filling with tears. “We ended up on the floor, wondering ‘where should we be? Should we be on the floor? ‘ ”

Curry, who is studying to be a paramedic, said the shooting left her unnerved. “I feel like I’m going through post-traumatic shock,” she said. “I haven’t eaten. I haven’t slept. I can’t study. I hear a car backfire and I think it’s happening again.”

Portland detectives are investigating the fatal shooting, and the case will be presented to a Multnomah County grand jury for review. That will be followed by a police internal affairs investigation to determine whether Clary followed bureau policy.

Many major police departments have set restrictions similar to Portland’s on firing at moving vehicles. Others have prohibited the practice. The Los Angeles Police Commission in 2005 adopted a policy that prohibits firing at moving vehicles unless officers are being fired upon or threatened with deadly force from someone within the vehicle. Boston, New York and Chicago also prohibit officers from firing into moving vehicles unless someone inside is shooting.

About 70 people attended a candlelight vigil for Simms late Monday near the spot where he was killed.

Lovett said that Simms, in addition to her child, had three other children with two women. The children are ages 6, 4, and 14 months.

Grand jury finds no criminal wrongdoing by officer who shot Simms

By Maxine Bernstein, The Oregonian, August 10, 2012

A Multnomah County grand jury on Friday found no criminal wrongdoing by Portland Police Officer Justin Clary in his July 28 fatal shooting of Billy Wayne Simms in North Portland.

Transcripts of the grand jury proceeding may be released by late next week, according to the Multnomah County District Attorney’s office.

Portland police say they believed Simms, 28, had shot at another car in Southeast Portland on July 28.

North Precinct police later in the day spotted the car Simms was thought to be driving, at the 7-Eleven at 6840 N. Fessenden St. Officers confronted two men as they left the convenience store. One man was taken into custody, police said, while Simms got into the car, started it and drove away.

“In the course of the encounter, one officer fired his weapon,” police said in a news release.

Police said Clary fired at Simms, who then drove into a fenced yard and through a sliding glass door of a two-story apartment building. Police found him dead at the scene.

The Police Bureau has not said whether Simms showed a gun or what threat he posed at the time. Investigators processing the crime scene later found a handgun in the vehicle.

From the Oregonian, July 30, 2012

“Get off the property,” Jeffery David Anderson told his wife, Susan. Moments later, he fired his .22-caliber rifle toward the sky. Then again.

Susan Anderson was familiar with her husband’s erratic behavior. She had moved in with a friend for a few days after arguing with him, but, needing clothing, returned July 7 to the Aloha home the couple had shared for 30 years. Faced with another argument and the gun, she left.

An hour later, Jeffery David Anderson, 56, lay dying in the street, shot by Washington County sheriff”s deputies. Neighbors and deputies say Anderson had walked along Southwest 195th Avenue near his home, pointing his loaded rifle at passing vehicles, and ultimately at deputies.

His death, which came a few hours later at OHSU Hospital, is the latest chapter in a series of shootings by police agencies responding to mental health-related calls in the Portland metropolitan area.

For example, Washington County sheriff’s deputies in June fatally shot Robert Kimball Fox, 52, of Aloha, who authorities say was suicidal and had pointed a loaded rifle at deputies. Portland police officers in January fatally shot Brad Lee Morgan, 21, who officials said was threatening to jump off a downtown parking structure and eventually pointed a fake gun at officers.

Authorities responding to mental health-related calls — especially when weapons are introduced — must make split-second decisions in unpredictable scenarios, said Washington County Sheriff Pat Garrett. Police can’t dodge bullets and de-escalate a situation simultaneously, he said.

“When you introduce a gun or weapon, that changes everything,” he said.

Jeffery Anderson was a severely depressed alcoholic who began pulling away from his wife and family during the past year. Susan Anderson described a pattern of unpredictable behavior. One moment, he apologized for his drinking. The next, he was angry.

His family struggled to deal with a husband, father, brother, who was spiraling into deeper depression and alcoholism. They loved him, but they didn’t know when or how to help. Now, his family says, they are stuck with a stark truth: It’s too late.

The night of the shooting, Susan Anderson sat in a detective’s car as she learned what happened to her husband.

“Never in my whole marriage would I have thought that…,” the 55-year-old later said, failing to complete the sentence as she started to cry. “Something in him snapped.”

For more than 15 years, Jeffery Anderson cleaned up spilled lunches and mopped floors as a custodian at Hillsboro’s Minter Bridge Elementary School. At his funeral, members of the school’s staff presented the family with a scrapbook of photographs and notes on colored paper about his helpfulness and warm personality.

The couple married 35 years ago, moving into their Aloha home five years later. They had two daughters, Sarah and Stephanie. Jeffery Anderson’s relationship with them, his wife said, could be rocky.

He loved to play with his five grandchildren, who knew him as “papa.” His sister, Kathy Milberger, 50, described her brother as a protector, and five years ago, she moved to Beaverton to be closer to him.

He enjoyed camping, trips to the coast and listening to music, especially Bob Marley. He wrote poetry.

He was a talker, but, at the same time, a loner. He pinched pennies and was a pack rat, stashing away belongings for years.

“It was hard for him to let go of things,” his wife said.

Sensitive and patriotic, Jeffery Anderson was deeply troubled by the state of America, what he saw as societal values in decline as banks and big business were on the rise. He sobbed when the first troops were killed in Afghanistan and Iraq.

“He needed to push it away,” Susan Anderson said. “He didn’t like to hear about all the people dying all the time.”

He talked about the issues so much, she said, “It got to where I couldn’t listen anymore.”

In the past year, Jeffery Anderson’s drinking noticeably increased. He’d have beers at home in the evening, growing more and more depressed.

For at least a year, he was prescribed an anti-depressant, citalopram, but in the months before the shooting, he wasn’t taking it consistently.

“I always thought he’d snap out of it,” Susan Anderson said. “But he didn’t.”

She thinks her husband purchased the rifle about a year ago. Leading up to the shooting, Jeffery Anderson mentioned the weapon more frequently. He bragged about the gun, talked about how it worked and his need to protect his property.

Yet Susan Anderson never felt afraid. “I guess I should have been,” she said.

“He was dwelling on everything negative,” she said, growing emotional. “Instead of being grateful for how good our lives are.”

Milberger said her brother would sometimes mention suicide, but never talked specifically about hurting himself.

“He felt as if he was going to die young,” she said.

Two days before his death, Jeffery Anderson left work early and went home. When one of his daughters stopped by that day, he was intoxicated, his wife said. He behaved strangely, showing his firearm to his grandchildren.

“Something’s wrong with papa,” the children told their mother.

At home, his daughter reflected on her dad’s behavior, and called police to have deputies check on him. The sheriff’s office said deputies on July 5 responded to a report that Jeffery Anderson was suicidal.

Deputies talked with Anderson at his home and took him to a hospital for further treatment. Susan Anderson said she wasn’t aware of her husband making any suicidal statements.

Jeffery Anderson was taken to Providence St. Vincent Medical Center, where he was evaluated and released four hours later, his wife said. Federal privacy laws prohibit the hospital from releasing when he was admitted and discharged, or the reasons for his release, according to a hospital spokeswoman.

After his release, Anderson was angry that police were called and he had been hospitalized.

That anger bled into the next days. On July 6, Susan Anderson tried calling him; he didn’t answer the phone. Milberger stopped by to check on her brother. She knocked. Nothing. She called. No answer.

She tried the door, and it was unlocked, she said. She found Jeffery Anderson asleep in bed.

Susan Anderson went to her home the next day, July 7. She tried to calm him down. “I kept saying Jeff, honey, I didn’t call the police,” she said.

Later that night, when she learned her husband had been shot and wounded, Susan Anderson broke down inside the detective’s car. Initially, authorities told her they thought Jeffery Anderson would make it, then they told her he had died.

Milberger interprets her brother’s actions that day as suicide by cop.

His wife and sister aren’t mad or bitter toward deputies. They hurt because they know that day changed everyone involved. Jeffery Anderson is gone. Life won’t be the same for his survivors or for the deputies who shot him.

They wanted to help their brother and husband. They wish the hospital had kept him longer. They wish they could have forced him to get help.

They were planning an intervention, but the fear that he would become enraged kept them from reaching out.

“Never wait that long,” Milberger said. “You need to catch something, intervene way sooner than we did.”

By Brian Denson, The Oregonian, April 26, 2012

This photo of Henry Liu was circulated to PSU students. (Photo: Portland State University)

Henry Liu was a promising graduate student in Portland State University‘s conflict resolution program. He had excellent grades, with law school on the horizon. But his academic career swiftly derailed last spring after he confided to a classmate that he was upset with a faculty member and mentioned guns in the same conversation.

Liu’s classmate told campus police that her friend felt a lot of hatred and said of one assistant professor, “He could get shot.” Liu, a gun enthusiast, denies making any such threat and says he never intended to harm anyone. Yet Portland State officials took swift and decisive action.

Less than 24 hours after Liu spoke to his classmate, campus police put him in handcuffs and he landed in a psychiatric ward. PSU officials barred him from school property and put out a public flier with his photo that included this line: “If you see Mr. Liu on campus, or if you have any significant concerns about your immediate personal safety, please notify law enforcement officials by calling 911.” Last month, PSU expelled him.

The 33-year-old Astoria resident hasn’t been charged with a crime and has no history of violence. A psychiatric report concluded that he poses no danger to himself or anyone else. At the time of his arrest, Liu’s interest in firearms had waned because owning guns seemed to conflict with his growing passion for conflict resolution.

He now finds himself considering legal action against the university, saying he was harmed by school officials who wildly overreacted to the allegations and profiled him — in his words — as a “crazy Asian shooter.”

Campus safety

The dorm-room rape and murder of Lehigh University freshman Jeanne Clery in 1986 prompted major safety reforms on college campuses across the United States.

Congress passed a law in 1990, known as the Clery Act, which requires colleges and universities with federal financial aid programs to publicly disclose campus crime information — including timely warnings of incidents posing threats to students and staff. Schools can be fined for failing to abide by the law.

The 2007 mass shooting at Virginia Tech sent school administrators nationwide scrambling to review their policies. The massacre precipitated safety reforms on many college campuses, including Portland State University.

PSU in 2008 formed a team called CARE — Coordination, Assessment, Response and Education — to help the campus community feel safe and supported. The team assesses and coordinates responses to student issues and concerns that require intervention, according to university officials.

The CARE team handles a wide range of campus safety issues, from suicide prevention to family traumas to reports of threatening behavior, said PSU spokesman Scott Gallagher.

So what went wrong at PSU? Did anything go wrong?

Liu’s case shows how a student can get caught up in a post-Virginia Tech world and how universities find themselves in dicey territory as they balance student security with free speech rights.

The way U.S. colleges respond to any hint of a gun threat took a dramatic turn five years ago, when a mentally ill Virginia Tech senior, Seung-Hui Cho, went on a shooting rampage at the school, killing 32 people before committing suicide.

Since then, campus administrators across the United States have grown hypervigilant to the point where concerns about gun-related speech have spiked into a state of alarm, says William Creeley, director of legal and public advocacy for the Foundation for Individual Rights in Higher Education.

“We are seeing an increased sensitivity to any behavior that could possibly be construed as aberrant, threatening or evidence of some larger personality disorder,” Creeley says. “As a result of this broad focus on unusual behavior, we’re seeing lots of normal, protected speech swept into the dragnet and used as reason for investigation or even punishment.”

Here’s what led to Liu’s expulsion, based on The Oregonian’s interviews with Liu, his accuser, his lawyer and campus police, as well as police records, a psychiatric report and other documents.

Walking with a classmate

On the evening of April 19, Liu walked a classmate to her car after class. What happened next remains in dispute.

Liu’s classmate told police he vented loudly about the conflict resolution program and its chairman, Robert Gould, saying, “I’m about ready to stick a .45 in his ass.” She said that Liu had complained about his chronic back problem and sleeplessness, and that he was going target shooting that weekend, according to a campus police report.

Liu disputes his classmate’s characterizations of the conversation. He says he confided his deep disappointment in PSU’s conflict resolution program and his unhappiness with assistant professor Stan Sitnik, who had given him a B-plus instead of the A he thought he deserved. But Liu says he never raised his voice and never mentioned Gould.

(Although Liu’s 55-year-old classmate is named in public records and gave a brief interview for this story, The Oregonian is withholding her name at the request of PSU officials, who say that naming her might have a chilling effect on others taking safety concerns to campus authorities.)

About 3 a.m. the next day, Liu’s classmate encouraged him by email to seek counseling or mediation for his anger. Liu was asleep and didn’t reply.

At some point, she reported his comments to PSU authorities. At roughly 9 a.m., an official in the dean of student life’s office phoned campus police to report the comments attributed to Liu. The police report described the incident as “inappropriate behavior.”

At 1:38 p.m., two campus police officers, joined by a pair of Portland cops, walked into a brick building on Southwest Clay Street, one block from the PSU campus, and knocked on the door of Apartment 43. Liu answered, shocked to see a group of officers on his landing, and stepped outside to talk.

Portland Officer James Crooker asked Liu if he had any guns inside his one-bedroom apartment.

“No,” he said.

Liu, who had four firearms in the apartment, would later explain that he wasn’t truthful for a reason: He saw police ushering people out of the building, and he hoped to defuse the situation rather than scare his neighbors or the officers.

Police told Liu they wanted to talk about statements he had allegedly made about harming staff members at PSU. When Liu denied having made any threats, Crooker asked again if he had any guns inside. Liu looked at campus police Sgt. Joseph Schilling, who said, “Where are the guns, Henry?”

Liu invited police inside and told them they could find two semiautomatic handguns in a locked footlocker in his closet. Police found both guns — a .22-caliber Smith & Wesson and a .45-caliber Springfield — and handcuffed their suspect. Liu says he heard one officer, noting the .45, ask, “You didn’t say you were going to stick this up somebody’s ass?”

Liu denied making the comment, and he told them where to find two other firearms, including a Daniel Defense M4 carbine, a semiautomatic version of a combat rifle used by U.S. troops. None of the guns were illegal, and none were loaded. Liu had bought two of them — one equipped with pink grips — for his fiance.

Officers poking through Liu’s place found loaded magazines, boxes of cartridges, survival gear stuffed into packs, along with extra food and a QuikClot sponge designed to quickly stop bleeding. Liu also had shooting glasses and ear protection, a first aid kit, a flashlight, wet naps, and a Bear Grylls survival knife.

The gear looked suspicious to police, as if Liu were planning a hasty departure, and, according to Liu, they kept using terms such as “tactical” and “military.” But as Liu later explained, he’s an avid camper with an abundance of gear, including a huge stock of ramen noodles his mother bought him at Costco.

Liu recalls police asking about his state of mind, wondering if he intended to follow up on his threats. He says he kept telling them it was all a terrible misunderstanding, but he felt as if they were trying to coerce a confession.

The impasse ended this way: Liu voluntarily agreed to be evaluated at Oregon Health & Science University. Police walked him out to a patrol car in lounge pants, his hair a mess. “I had my head down in shame,” he recalls.

Liu says he didn’t realize he would have to spend six days in a psychiatric unit at OHSU before he was released with a clean bill of mental health.

Conduct evaluated

PSU’s Student Conduct Committee, composed of students and faculty, heard the complaint against Liu over two days last month.

The panel took testimony from Liu’s accuser and Sgt. Schilling. Liu didn’t appear in person because he wasn’t allowed on campus. He testified by speakerphone in the office of his attorney, Michael E. Rose.

Rose wasn’t permitted to speak during the proceeding. Students can have advisers at the hearings, says PSU spokesman Scott Gallagher, but only as consultants, not as participants in the proceedings, which aren’t intended to be judicial in nature.

“The fact that the two witnesses against (Liu) were sitting in the room with the committee, and Henry was only allowed to participate by telephone — invisible, and highly ignorable — really cuts at the root of any notion of a fair hearing,” Rose says.

On June 20, Liu got notice that he had been expelled for violating two provisions of the code of student conduct: “Furnishing false/misleading information,” and “Possible health/safety threat.”

Liu isn’t the first student expelled for making credible threats on campus, Gallagher says. School officials declined to cite the precise number of expulsions, saying the information could possibly violate the privacy of other students.

Liu has filed for an administrative review of PSU’s expulsion. He and his lawyer will wait for the outcome of that review before planning their next step, Rose says.

The circumstances confronting PSU officials last April were serious, says Public Safety Chief Phillip Zerzan. They had a heavily armed student — with survival gear and hundreds of rounds of ammo — who lived spitting distance from campus and was accused of threatening faculty members.

With all those factors in play, he says, PSU took reasonable and compassionate steps to keep Liu and the campus community safe.

Zerzan’s job is to keep the university safe, but he also recognizes that students and faculty have free-speech rights.

“It is a difficult balance, and I think we were responsible,” he says. “This was not a rush to judgment. … How defensible would it be if we didn’t put out the warning and he came back and shot up the school?”

Liu feels betrayed.

“My takeaway is that I was wrongly dismissed from the university based on hearsay and conclusions that weren’t supported by facts,” he says. “My name’s been smeared, and so much has been taken from me. My future is uncertain. And I miss school.”

From www.cameronwhitten.com, July 25, 2012

Commemorating the birthday of social critic and award-winning author Aldous Huxley, Portland activist Cameron Whitten has declared a determined end date for his Hunger Strike at City Hall. The 24/7 camping demonstration was launched on June 2nd, and has been fairly reminiscent of last Fall’s Occupation of Downtown Public Squares. After 55 Days, Whitten’s weight has dropped to 159 of an initial 193.7 pounds: shedding 34.7 pounds in total.

Cameron Whitten + homeless cat

Whitten, a former mayoral candidate, student, and active volunteer, said he felt the exponentially growing housing crisis was not receiving enough visibility, “There are less safe places for Portlanders to sleep, which contributes to crime, mental health issues, lower quality of living, and death.”
The statistics of homelessness in Multnomah County are staggering.

• 2,727 people are experiencing homelessness
• 1,928 are sleeping in transitional housing
• 35% are unsheltered families with children
• 46% are people of color
• 12% are U.S. military veterans

Total 4,655 people as identified by the Portland/Multnomah County “Point-In Time Study,” 2011

Whitten launched his campaign with three resolutions: petitioning Bureau of Development Services to waive fines levied on the property owners of lot 323, where Right 2 Dream Too shelters over 80 houseless individuals per night without governmental aid, for County Sheriff to issue a one-year moratorium on foreclosure evictions for homeowners, and for City Council to add a housing levy measure to the November 2012 General Election ballot.

Many City Officials, including the Mayor, had conversations with Whitten during the 55 Day protest. Although they acknowledged the merit of the requests, each was denied as an immediate course of action. Tensions came to a boil when Whitten, surrounded by supporters at his 30 Day rally, announced he was switching to a more dangerous water-only fast, prompting a few City Commissioners to cease communications with him, save for Commissioner Fritz, who spent time outside the campaign trail to check his health and exchange ideas. He continued to organize within the community and build public support, gaining the attention of both Mayoral Candidates, Jefferson Smith and Charlie Hales. For weeks, local media was in the air about how the end game would turn out.

Tuesday morning, Whitten tweeted that he was returning to the liquid diet he had adopted in the first 30 days of his protest, which was retweeted by Mayor Adams and received strong approval from supporters. Both parties were nothing more than ambiguous about claims of a negotiation being hammered out.

One of his most active, and inspired supporters has been Kate Lore of First Unitarian Church, which Whitten attends. “…I am profoundly moved by all that Cameron has managed to do…As a result, he brought together a powerful coalition of government, faith, and community leaders to collaboratively address this crisis. I am so impressed by his passion for justice and his resolve to make a difference.”

Whitten notes a number of groundbreaking victories for Housing Justice have occurred over the past 55 Days:

• Renewed visibility to the housing crisis, promotion of “Housing First” policy.
• Located services for various houseless individuals.
• July 1 Slumber Party, where over 70 housing advocates slept outside City Hall.
• July 20 Rally at Terry Schrunk Park, with over 200 attendees.
• Initiation of legal procedures on behalf of Right 2 Dream Too.
• New Dialogue on Housing Reform, such as Steve Novick’s Eminent Domain proposal (which Whitten promoted during his Primary campaign).
• Public Letter from Mayor Sam Adams, announcing an Annual Regional Housing Summit, TBA.

Over the weeks, he has been visited by hundreds of well-wishers, provided interviews and background information to a diversity of news outlets, and attended classes at Portland Community College, Cascade Campus. When asked what his favorite experience over his 8 week journey was, he wittingly responded, “Not starving to death.”
Whitten states that he couldn’t have made this much progress on the Hunger Strike by himself. He gives credits and many thanks to supporters in a long list, including:

• Israel Bayer, Street Roots
• Amy Ruiz, Office of Mayor Sam Adams
• Ibrahim Mubarak and Mark Kramer, R2D2 Advocates
• Mayoral Candidates Jefferson Smith and Charlie Hales
• Commissioner Amanda Fritz
• Midge Purcell, Urban League of Portland
• Billy Scheibner, Co-Striker
• Jobs With Justice, KBOO, KGW News, PQ Monthly, and the Portland Mercury
• Kate Lore, First Unitarian Church of Portland
• Jason Renaud, Mental Health Association of Portland
• Jim Flanagan, Overseeing Physician
• Phiamma Elias, RADIANTFLUXproductions
• Gardner Mein, PCC Creative Writing Professor

And his list goes on at: http://www.cameronwhitten.com/honors-and-thanks/

Whitten is planning an open Press Conference to declare his victory, on the steps of City Hall. Thursday, July 26th at 10AM, supporters will be able to observe him scarf down his first item of solid food in the past 55 Days. He hasn’t clued anyone in on what it will be, but you can be sure it will be vegan.

READ – Former Mayoral Candidate Announces Hunger Strike, Portland Mercury May 31, 2012
READ – Hunger Striker Cameron Whitten Accuses Media of Ignoring Him, Portland Mercury, June 6 2012
READ – Cameron Whitten camps, stages hunger strike at Portland City Hall, Oregonian June 10, 2012
READ – How’s Cameron Whitten Doing on His Hunger Strike?, June 11, 2012
READ – Cameron Whitten gets support for hunger strike in solidarity event, June 11, 2012
READ – Hunger Striker Cameron Whitten on Day 19: “I’m Out Here as Long as It Takes”, Portland Mercury, June 20, 2012
READ – Cameron Whitten organizes expected 50 protesters to sleep surrounding City Hall Sunday night, Oregonian July 1, 2012
READ – Homeless advocate Cameron Whitten on hunger strike outside City Hall, Oregonian July 3, 2012 (includes video)
READ – “Apathy and Distraction” A Q&A with Hunger Striker Cameron Whitten, Portland Mercury, July 5, 2012
READ – Cameron Whitten: Why I hunger for housing justice, guest column in the Oregonian, July 24, 2012
READ – Commissioner Nick Fish issues statement commending Cameron Whitten’s hunger strike, July 19, 2012
READ – Portland hunger-striker Cameron Whitten holds rally that attracts audience of 200, Oregonian, July 20, 2012
READ – Scenes from Cameron Whitten’s Epic Rally for Housing Justice, July 23, 2012
READ – Hungry For Justice, Portland Tribune, July 25, 2012
READ – The sideshow outside Portland City Hall, unsigned Oregonian editor’s opinion, July 26, 2012
READ – Homeless summit set as Whitten ends protest, Portland Business Journal, July 27, 2012
SEE – photos of Cameron Whitten’s hunger strike from The Oregonian

For nearly two months, Cameron Whitten has demonstrated outside City Hall to raise awareness of the plight of people experiencing homelessness in our community. We admire Cameron’s heart, tenacity and smarts. His advocacy reminds us there are always ways to learn more and continuously improve across jurisdictions.

Portland is recognized nationally as a local government innovator in preventing homelessness and providing affordable housing services. Our innovations are under threat with budget cuts to federal, state and local safety net services. And more budget cuts are possible at a time when safety net services are needed most.

We believe new solutions must be focused not only on shelter but also on strengthening all aspects of a person’s life. We know this now better than before: We just completed the Portland Plan — the official 25-year strategic plan for the City of Portland. At its core the Portland Plan focuses us on multi-faceted approaches to prosperity, education, health and equity.

Thus, we accept the constructive challenge offered by Cameron Whitten to renew our efforts to find local housing solutions for those suffering from homelessness. At Cameron’s request, Portland will enthusiastically participate in the proposed Regional Summit on Homelessness and Housing to be convened by Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon.

We believe solving our local housing challenges is best accomplished with a stronger regional partnership involving advocates, agencies, non-profit and faith communities, and people experiencing homelessness. After the November elections is an opportune time to take a new look at regional homeless and affordable housing issues, as we welcome newly-elected leaders to the table.

The scope of the Regional Summit on Homelessness and Housing should include but is not limited to:

* What is the state of homelessness in our community?
* How are government agencies throughout the region and organizations in the non profit, business, and faith sectors working together to address this crisis?
* How can we strengthen these partnerships?
* How will regional leaders support this work?

In addition to the Summit, the City is engaged in ongoing conversations about the futures of Right 2 Dream 2 and Dignity Village. When the time is right, we believe a future City Council will support a public vote on a new dedicated funding source for affordable housing. We are looking forward to working with Cameron Whitten and others in the region on homeless and housing issues, and we will continue our everyday work to support Portlanders experiencing homelessness.

What: Regional Summit on Homelessness and Housing.
Where: TBD
When: Fall 2012
Convener: Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon
Participants: Regional Leaders

Medical examiner: Inmate died while being restrained

From The Columbian, July 18, 2012

Five months after a Vancouver man with a history of mental illness died in the Clark County Jail, his death has been ruled a homicide from asphyxia while being restrained by custody officers.

Afrodita and Cristian Asanachescu talk about their son, Marius Asanachescu, at their home March 22 in Vancouver. Marius died while in custody in the Clark County Jail on Feb. 10.

The investigation into the circumstances of Marius Asanachescu’s Feb. 10 death continues, said Sgt. Scott Creager of the Vancouver Police Department. Creager said Wednesday that he and other members of the major crimes unit will meet next week with Clark County Medical Examiner Dr. Dennis Wickham to discuss Wickham’s findings.

On Wednesday, Asanachescu’s mother, Afrodita [Asanachescu], said she used to trust the justice system.

“What happened to my son is incredible,” she said. “They killed him.”

The internal affairs unit of the Clark County Sheriff’s Office has been conducting its own investigation, said sheriff’s Sgt. Fred Neiman. Neiman would not say how many custody officers were involved in restraining Asanachescu, but said they were put on routine administrative leave during the initial phases of the investigation and have returned to work.

Creager said finished reports will be forwarded to Clark County Prosecutor Tony Golik for his review. Golik will determine whether to file criminal charges against any of the custody officers.

The ruling on Asanachescu’s death comes after inmate suicides on July 1 and July 7.

According to a June report from Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey, between 2007 and 2011 the jail has been “heavily impacted by special-needs inmates: the mentally ill, geriatric, physically or mentally challenged or violent.” Suicide attempts have more than doubled since 2007, the report said.

In an interview earlier this year, Jackie Webster, Clark County Jail chief, said the jail isn’t set up to be a hospital. Inmates are routinely double-bunked in the jail’s six-room medical unit, and other special-needs inmates have to be isolated.

In 2009, a mentally ill inmate died from an overdose of generic Prozac and his family sued the county and Wexford Health Sources Inc., the county’s medical contractor for the jail. The county and Wexford settled by each paying the family $175,000.

Clark County commissioners are already scheduled to have a work session this summer with the sheriff’s office to discuss policies and procedures for special-needs inmates.

Few details of Asanachescu’s death were released Wednesday.

According to Neiman, custody officers had been attempting to restrain Asanachescu from harming himself.

While the cause of death was homicide from asphyxia, Wickham determined that psychosis was an underlying cause of death and obesity was a “significant condition.”

Asanachescu, 28, was 5 foot 9 and weighed 260 pounds.

“Although homicide is sometimes used synonymously with the act of murder, homicide is broader in scope than murder and does not necessarily constitute a criminal act,” Neiman wrote in a press release.

Bipolar disorder

Asanachescu’s mother said her son wasn’t a bad person.

“Marius didn’t take his medication,” she said.

Afrodita and her husband, Cristian [Asanachescus], have retained Vancouver attorney Bill Nelson. Nelson said Wednesday that it’s too early to know anything “other than they feel very badly about the loss of their son.”

In an interview in March, the Asanachescus said their son started using drugs in 1997 to self-medicate for his bipolar disorder and received professional help at Columbia River Mental Health and Lifeline Connections. Their son also received Social Security disability payments.

When he was on his medication he would do well, but then he would stop taking it because he didn’t think he needed it anymore, Cristian said during the March 22 interview.

Their son was born in Bucharest, Romania, in 1983 and the family immigrated to the United States in 1990.

They first lived in Los Angeles, then moved to Portland in 1992 and to Vancouver in 1996.

They said their son didn’t cause any trouble until he was a teenager. He dropped out of Mountain View High School when he was 16.

Asanachescu’s criminal history includes juvenile convictions for taking a motor vehicle without permission and adult convictions for robbery and attempt to elude.

In 2009, former Superior Court Judge Robert Harris found Asanachescu mentally incompetent to stand trial on a charge of custodial assault. Asanachescu was civilly committed to Western State Hospital, where he stayed for six months.

Asanachescu had been living with his brother, Andrei, when Andrei called 911 on Jan. 30 to say that his brother had pulled a steak knife on him and threatened to kill him, according to court records. Asanachescu was arrested for second-degree domestic violence assault. Booking records noted that he was “bipolar in manic state, off meds,” but did not show any signs of suicidal behavior.

On Feb. 7, Superior Court Judge Scott Collier signed an order to transport Asanachescu to Western State Hospital for an evaluation.

Asanachescu was waiting for a bed to open up at the Tacoma-area hospital at the time of his death.

Guest column by Jenny Westberg, published in The Oregonian, July 18, 2012

An arbitrator’s decision last week to overturn 80-hour suspensions against Portland police officers involved in the 2006 death of James Chasse will further erode community confidence in the police, particularly among those affected by mental illness.

Although the police union considers the ruling vindication, I believe most Portlanders are convinced that the police haven’t learned a thing.

When Christopher Humphreys, Kyle Nice and Bret Burton (who was working for the Multonomah County Sheriff’s office) chased, kicked, punched and used a Taser on Chasse, who was not committing any crime and who was crying out for mercy; when police leadership coolly justified their unconscionable, lethal acts; when city leadership continues to treat the involved officers like adorable but frisky pets; when every move to discipline any officer is defeated, our disbelief in justice expands.

Chasse did not go gently. He was not another unknown vagrant passing through. He was a loved member of a community — our community. His many friends stood vigil and waited for some truth to emerge. Nearly six years have passed, and we’re still waiting. And wasted time has a cost.

First the city and the county fought the civil suit — in the media, in court, in council hallways, in public meetings, in legal documents, on street corners and at cocktail parties — although both the city and county eventually settled the suit with Chasse’s family. Cops fought too; their lawyers fought; their apologists fought; their union fought; their public relations reps fought; all on behalf of those who made Chasse’s last moments a nightmare of pain and fear. And, as usual, they won.

They won in the courts. They won at City Hall. They won at the contract negotiating table. They won with government policy writers. They won with commanding officers. And now they have won with an employment law arbitrator.

But they lost a battle they don’t understand in the area between right and wrong. They kept their jobs, but they lost their honor, lost hearts and minds, lost respect and trust.

Mayor Sam Adams and Police Chief Mike Reese reframed the problem. They acknowledged mistakes and made quick apologies. They invited the community to speak at City Council meetings and in the backrooms of City Hall. They listened attentively to their constituents. They met with community leaders. They promised things would change.

And they have changed. Only one person, Brad Lee Morgan, shot dead while pondering suicide, has been killed by the Portland police so far this year. The statistical turnaround deserves acknowledgement. But how do we heap laurels so long as any of these men are Portland police officers?

Of course, Chasse’s death in custody was not due to his mental illness, nor were his ribs broken by the state and county mental health system. However, part of Chasse’s ongoing legacy is an improved system of care for people with mental illness who live in our community. But the changes — some of which were forced by court judgments — are an insufficient patchwork. Moreover, they are not changes to the police union contract with the city. This has given us neither transparency nor justice.

Yes: Changes were made, positive changes that better protect citizens with mental illness. But changes aren’t justice. And if one can measure the success of a community by how it communicates with its most vulnerable people, then the changes that have been made don’t go far enough.

Jenny Westberg is a board member of the Mental Health Association of Portland.