The day after a person was shot and killed in Portland, Oregon, Gov. Kate Brown announced a list of action items, which amounted to "a unified law enforcement plan to protect free speech and bring violence and arson to an end" in the state.
In a statement on Sunday, Brown said that everyone — from the local to state level — needed to come together to end the violence in Portland.
"Real change will come from the hard work to achieve racial justice. And it starts with all of us listening to each other, and working together," she said.
The action plan revolved around giving the police department additional support and included prosecuting and detaining perpetrators of violent acts, asking nearby counties and cities "to support the Portland Police Bureau with personnel and resources to keep the peace and protect free speech," reimbursing those additional forces for their help and utilizing the U.S. Attorney and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to investigate criminal activity.
The shooting, which took place on Saturday, happened amid a clash between Black Lives Matter protesters and supporters of President Donald Trump. A day later, the president praised the pro-Trump caravan that had entered the city and criticized Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler.
The pro-Trump demonstrators and counter-protesters scuffled throughout the day, but most of the president’s supporters had cleared out by the time the shooting occurred, according to the Oregonian.
Justin Dunlap, 44, a witness of the shooting, told NBC News that he saw the victim facing two people hearing a gunshot. The victim took a few steps before collapsing, according to the witness. Videos on social media show first responders attending to the victim.
Getty Images published a photo from the scene that showed what appears to be the man wearing a Patriot Prayer hat, a group the Southern Poverty Law Center describes as being far-right.
On Monday, in a statement emailed to NBC News, a Portland Police Department spokesperson said they had no additional information on the city's response that they were authorized to release. They said there was no curfew in effect.
In a press conference on Sunday, Wheeler asked that those from other states stay away from Portland.
"For those of you saying on Twitter this morning that you plan to come to Portland to seek retribution, I'm calling on you to stay away. You, of course, have a constitutional right to be here, but we're asking you to stay away and work with us to help us deescalate this situation," Wheeler said.
It was not clear if Wheeler was referencing arrests of people who live outside the city or was solely referencing social media chatter from people talking about possibly coming to Portland. A list of arrests on Sunday listed several residents of Oregon, who are not residents of Portland. At least two people arrested are listed as living out of state. Several don't list addresses.
Wheeler also vowed to continue working with the community "as we reimagine what public safety and racial justice can look like in our community and can continue to do that work in the weeks and the months ahead."
During that press conference, Portland Police Bureau Chief Chuck Lovell said there were about 30 police officers on duty the Saturday prior and mentioned that resources were strained.
"It's just not always operationally feasible to insert that small number of officers in between two crowds who are hostile towards one another and engage," Lovell said. "It's just not necessarily operationally safe all the time to get in the middle of that."
However, it was unclear as of Monday if or how the shooting was connected to the protests.
The Portland Police Bureau said in a statement that it was investigating the shooting.
"Tragically, yesterday a life was lost in downtown Portland. We do not yet know the full circumstances of this person’s death. Regardless, a life has been lost, and our hearts go out to this person’s family. We will find those who were responsible, and they will be held accountable," Brown said in a statement on Sunday.
It was unclear if Brown's plan was in response to the shooting or if it had been in the works prior, but she said that Brown and Wheeler would hold a community forum and invited Black protest organizers and community leaders to "discuss racial justice and police reform in the City of Portland."
“Change will not come overnight, and, as we have seen in these last months, it does not come easily either. But we are building a more just future," Brown said in another statement on Sunday.
Brown, Wheeler, and members of the Portland City Council did not immediately respond to a request for comment about what action the city was taking in the wake of the shooting.
Portland has had ongoing protests since spring. In July, the Trump administration deployed extra federal agents to the city to protect federal property, but Wheeler said the move only made the situation more hostile.
Although Portland is thought to be a liberal bastion, it's difficult to rectify its progressive ideologies with a city that is still notably segregated and has a history of clashes between police and its Black and brown residents.
Last month, the Oregonian reported that 80 percent of the Portland Police Bureau is white, and the city itself is among the whitest big cities in the United States, as Rolling Stone reported. Only six percent of Portland's residents are Black, according to the magazine, and that population has been historically redlined into a single neighborhood in the downtown area.
And in recent history, several police encounters with Black residents have been fatal. As Rolling Stone noted in a July story, from 2003 to 2017, police in Portland have shot and killed Kendra James, Aaron Campbell and Quanice Hayes.
In 2012, the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division sent former Portland Mayor Sam Adams a letter regarding an investigation into the Portland Police Bureau's use of force during encounters with people who were perceived to have mental illness, especially those who are Black, which stated that while most uses of force were constitutional, "we find reasonable cause to believe that PPB engages in a pattern or practice of unnecessary or unreasonable force during" encounters with those who may have mental illness.
In July, as protests continued through the city, City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty tweeted an open letter, in which she told the mayor to either control the police or hand oversight over to her.
"We need you to stop denying the violence being perpetrated by our own police force, and make it clear and unambiguous: Portland police are directed from the top to never collaborate with 45's goon squad, to take off their riot gear, and to stop contributing to the violence that was occurring before the feds arrived and still continues night after night," Hardesty wrote.
In response, Lovell addressed Hardesty's concerns saying the PPB is "a progressive agency with a culture of change."
"We do not shy away from community input or new ways to try police work. We strive for excellence and will continue to do so. We have work to do and we are ready to listen and collaborate with our community to gain trust and build meaningful solutions," Lovell wrote.
Hardesty on July 16 wrote that more community events would be held to discuss how to achieve community safety in Portland ahead of the fall budget adjustment.
