Bust in the Reo's arson case

The police have arrested the woman who is suspected of torching Reo's Ribs in the Hollywood District of Portland. The name is Jennifer Lynn Cole. Her mug shot certainly matches the face in the surveillance video from the night of the arson.



Some of the many right-wing agitators on the internet are trying to make Cole out to be some sort of left-wing terrorist, because Antifa types trashed that area recently. But that doesn't sound right to me. If politics was involved, perhaps racism was at play. Reo's is well known as a Black-owned business. 

Who knows? Maybe we'll find out eventually.

Comments

  1. Ms Cole is a mentally unsound victim of hard drugs. She camps on the sidewalks, has many many issues, and can barely string a sentence together. I was there when she was arrested, right where she'd been camped out for two days. There's nothing political there, she doesn't have the capacity.

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    Replies
    1. Cosmic Charlie is right. Public records show she recently has had multiple criminal cases dismissed because she was found permanently unable to aid and assist, meaning she is so profoundly mentally ill she could never have the capacity to meaningfully participate in her defense. This really only happens when a person has a profound psychotic disorder (frequently exacerbated by drug abuse), an extremely low IQ or a traumatic brain injury. Records concerning her diagnosis are not public, but a picture tells a thousand words so we can presume it is some type of psychosis. It begs the question "If someone is so profoundly mentally ill that they frequently commit crimes and can't even participate in their defense, how come they can't be civilly committed? What about public safety?" It's one of the inexplicable and somewhat appalling aspects of civil commitment law in Oregon. The bar is really, really high to get someone committed and even if the standard was relaxed within reason, there are very few beds. It almost always leaves the criminal justice system holding the bag and there is little to nothing the criminal justice system can do once a person is found permanently unable to aid and assist. I don't know if civil commitment was attempted in her situation and it very well could have been, but because of Charlie's observations we can infer wasn't receiving any type of supervised care. Now she has a serious Arson charge and unless the experts magically do a 180 and say she can aid and assist (highly doubtful), the result will remain the same. If that's the case, hopefully there will be enough to commit her long term for the sake of public safety and her health. Otherwise, there will be yet another profoundly mentally ill person who is dumped out in front of the Justice Center after a year of legal doings with no plan, no supervision, and only delusions as a guidepost.

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