To mug shot or not to mug shot, that is the question
We live in interesting times. Over the weekend a deranged gunman who had been harassing a Portland hospital shot and killed a security guard in the maternity ward there. The police located the killer and shot him dead in Gresham, the next town over, later in the day. By now we've seen family photos of the murdered security guard, and KGW has even run a story about the killer's friend who unwittingly (he says) drove the killer out of town shortly after the homicide in the hospital. And now we have the name (two names, actually) of the shooter, who had a long rap sheet and was known to be a violent man.
But what about the shooter's photo? There are several mug shots of the guy around, given his checkered past. These were taken before the state outlawed showing the world who's been arrested. KATU and KPTV are running the mug shots. KOIN, KGW, and OPB aren't, as far as I can tell. (I'm not sure about the Oregonian, what with their paywall and all.)
It's kind of hard to see much value in the guy's privacy at this point. Or in the principle of innocence-until-proven-guilty. The cops shot him to death. Why can't we see what he looked like? Information sure has become a strange commodity, especially in Oregon.
Why can we not see him? Doesn’t fit the narrative.
ReplyDeleteDemocrats wrote House Bill 3273, which Governor Kate Brown signed, making police arrest photos ("mug shots") exempt from public records law as of Jan. 1, 2022. Democrats worried that releasing mug shots of violent criminals contributes to "systemic racism," as many (if not most) violent criminals are black or Hispanic. Democrats do not want the public to see the truth, or gain an accurate picture of violent crime and drug crime in Oregon. The truth conflicts with the Democrat narrative, so they suppressed the truth to hide it from the public.
ReplyDeleteSpot on!
DeleteI understand what the state did. What I don't understand is why various local media outlets, which obviously have access to the photos, don't show us one.
DeleteTruth about crime in the Portland area, definitely conflicts with the Democrat’s narrative about identifying the preps.
ReplyDeleteMaybe instead of suppressing the truth, how about we just really blast these photos and blast the courts for not coming down hard on these idiots. Send enough of 'em to long prison sentences and maybe some of the brighter ones will stop breaking the law? But no, that's just not the liberal way... sorry I forgot. Just let it all go down the drain, you idiots.
DeleteI'll be honest. I went looking for a picture of the guy myself. I caught myself wondering what in the hell I was doing after a few minutes. This nation, and I'll include myself, has a really unhealthy obsession with true crime. We titillate ourselves with every last detail of these crimes and for what? How does it change anything if I know what the guy looks like? How does it change anything if I know what his friends in California thought of him? It doesn't. It's just more mindless sludge to pack away in our already toxic mind holes.
ReplyDeleteWe're watching this same obsession play out bigly with the whole Sound of Freedom thing. Thousands of righties have flocked to the theater to watch a story about kids getting tortured and feel good about some white dude who saves them. That's some sick stuff, there. There's gonna be sequels. We can't get enough.
Meanwhile, a federal judge has had to step in and appoint a special master to oversee Oregon's foster care system because it's that screwed up. THAT'S a scandal.
Some white dude who saves them- really, you've got to go there?
DeleteI understand that the security guard shot would always put other peoples safety ahead of his own. Boy imagine if we had an organization of city employees that were dedicated to that and they had cars and patrolled the city maintaining order. We could pay for it with our property taxes.
ReplyDeleteOnce open a time, saving children was awarded hero status.
ReplyDeleteNot sure this would have changed the situation but heard that the slain security person was not armed. And I am getting sick of not showing or ignoring crimes by non-white folks because it doesn't fit the narrative of "White Right-Wing Extremists" are the biggest threat to society, when the data is just the opposite. If we have to divide people into groups, why not Crazy Lite, Crazy Crazy, Not So Crazy?
ReplyDeleteLegacy management refused to arm security guards. One guard at night for the entire hostpital with three entrances. And, they knew this guy AND knew he was dangerous to the point of putting his photo up. To Jack's point, even the hospital had this guy's photo BEFORE he shot and killed the guard.
DeleteBreaking news. The perp had a restraining order against him.
ReplyDeleteWhat a useless piece of paper.