San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
UNREST ERUPTS OVER POLICE KILLING OF BLACK MAN IN WASH.
Tensions boiled over into unrest late Friday following a vigil for a Black man shot and killed by law enforcement in southwestern Washington state.
Mourners gathered in Hazel Dell, an unincorporated area of Vancouver, Wash., where family and friends say Kevin E. Peterson Jr., 21, was shot Thursday night. The city is about 12 miles north of Portland.
Hundreds of people gathered for the vigil Friday evening, with some holding signs reading, “Honk for Black lives. White silence is violence” and “Scream his name.”
Nearby, tensions flared between left- and rightwing protesters. Video recorded by journalists in a parking lot showed two groups of people shouting at each other. Also, some armed demonstrators gathered near a building they told reporters they were protecting.
The crowds ultimately fizzled out near the vigil but a group of hundreds of protesters later marched through downtown Vancouver. Windows were shattered, flags were burned and federal agents clothed in riot gear surrounded a building — warning people that trespassing on federal property would be subject to arrest.
Multiple videos showed two vehicles facing each other just after midnight on a downtown street. Two shots were heard but reportauthorities ers at the scene said it didn’t appear anyone was hit.
Authorities declared an unlawful assembly and ordered protesters to disperse. At least one person appeared to have been detained, according to video posted online by a journalist.
Family and friends had described Peterson as a former high school football player and the proud father of an infant daughter.
In a statement, Clark County Sheriff Chuck Atkins said a joint citycounty narcotics task force was conducting an investigation just before 6 p.m. Thursday and chased a man into the parking lot of a bank, where he fired a gun at them. A firearm was recovered at the scene, Atkins said.
have not named the person who was shot, but Kevin E. Peterson Sr. told The Oregonian/oregonlive the person was his son, Kevin E. Peterson Jr. Atkins referenced the Peterson family in his remarks but did not confirm Peterson was the person who was killed.
“I can say that our agency is grieving as is the Peterson family and the community,” Atkins said. “As the community grieves, I call for there to be a respectful and dignified observance of the loss of life in this matter.”
The investigation has been referred to the Southwest Washington Independent Investigation Team, and the Camas Police Department is taking the lead, Atkins said.