Thread by @JoAnnPDX

Commissioner Hardesty's full statement on the Quanice Hayes Settlement can be watched here:

The statement can be read in full here: portland.gov/hardesty/news/…

[Statement Thread] Let me begin by reading a piece of a letter that was written by Donna Hayes, Grandmother of Quanice Hayes, as shared on the Pacific Northwest Family Circle website.

The Pacific Northwest Family Circle is an all-volunteer community group that supports Oregon and Washington Families whose loved ones were killed or injured by police officers.

“As Moose’s grandmother, I miss the times we had to be alone. I could talk to him about anything. We talked about the latest music, because at my age, I was behind the times — pretty much stuck on music from the 80s."

"He introduced me to Jesse McCartney’s song, Beautiful Soul. He was so sure I would love this song. And I do. I play it now, and it breaks my heart, because he had a beautiful soul…"

"Quanice was a talented young man. Dancing and sports were his greatest achievements. Whatever the new dance was, he could do it. All you had to do was ask him to do it, and you saw how it was done."

"He was great at traditional sports…basketball, football and baseball. But he also played non-traditional sports like lacrosse. Not only did he play these different sports, he was good at each one. Moose was a natural athlete."

"Moose was a hero to his siblings. His sister has to step into a role that isn’t hers nor is she ready for. She was the sibling that was always at odds with her brother. They played practical jokes with each other just to see who could best each other."

"His little brothers looked up to him, and when they had a problem, they ran straight to Moose. When they thought their mother was wrong, they went to him, and he in turn, went to his mother to hash out the problem."

"He now has a brother who will not know him and how Moose cared about him…he loved his siblings. Now they have lost their hero. One of the hardest thing was to tell them that Moose is not coming back."

"Every once in a while they inquire on whether Moose is coming back. His siblings feel his loss terribly, as we all do. Just as we cannot understand why, they have it the worst, because they don’t understand the idea of death."

"Hearing us talk about police, they’ve grown an unhealthy fear of law enforcement.” - Donna Hayes

Quanice was a teenager, 17 years old. This never should have happened. Quanice should still be alive today.
Instead the Portland Police Bureau decided to play judge, jury, and executioner that day when they opened fire and killed a 17 year old teenager that was on his knees.

want to apologize to the family of Quanice Hayes. While dealing with this unimaginable hardship, grief, and trauma, you have witnessed an attempted character assassination of Quanice, his mother, and other members of the Hayes family. I am so sorry you have to deal with all this.

I genuinely hope that this settlement provides some level of relief after all the trauma and hardship the Hayes family has had to endure.

But let me be clear: what is happening today is not justice. This is not accountability. This decision doesn’t do anything to fix a problematic Portland Police Bureau.

Which brings me to a very important point I want Portlanders to understand.

Earlier this week, the trial began for Officer Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd. We are also coming up on the anniversary of the of the murder of Breonna Taylor at the hands of law enforcement.

What today should make us realize is that that the Portland Police Bureau is not an exception to the deep systemic racism, toxic culture, and brutality we see in police departments all across the county.

In fact, by the numbers, we have one of the most brutal police forces with some of the highest racial disparities in outcomes in the entire country.

According to the Oregonian, Portland police reported 6,283 uses of force during protests between May and the end of September last year. The Oregonian notes the actual number is likely much higher due to data gaps in what PPB provided to city-hired consultants.

For example: “According to police, the use of police batons to “guide an individual who demonstrated no resistance” was not considered use of force.”

As recently reported by OPB, Black people in Portland are arrested at a rate 4.5 times higher than white Portlanders. Portland police kill Black people at a rate 3.9 times higher than white Portlanders. These are the 5th worst racial disparities in the country.

The City of Portland has spent a significant amount taxpayer money on PPB related settlement agreements over the years. And every time this happens, we know we are not seeing justice.

This is harming our community and making it increasingly difficult for Portlanders to trust their police bureau, especially among Black, Brown, Indigenous, LatinX, and all communities of color.

What happened to George Floyd, what happened to Breonna Taylor – these are incidents that happen right here in Portland as well.

In Portland, it’s Quanice Hayes being executed on his knees. [statement continues in new thread]