HollyMatkinPortland, OR – Anti-police messages were torn down and defaced at a Portland transit center on Friday, in what some are calling an act of vandalism against a Black Lives Matter “display of posters and artwork.”
The display was left up following Friday’s “protest and community service” event organized by Don’t Shoot Portland. The organizers named the event “Black Lives Matter #NotBlackFriday Not One Dime,” on their Facebook event page.
The display perpetuated the notion that that all individuals killed by law enforcement were victims of “police brutality.”
It also included posters with anti-law enforcement messages, such as at least two with bright font that read “#F**KTHEPOLICE” repeatedly.
Black Lives Matter activists blocked an intersection during the same event last year, according to KOIN.
According to KATU, the “growing memorial” mostly featured individuals “who were killed by police in recent years.”
“These are the men and women who have been subject to police brutality,” an unnamed person who viewed the display before it was vandalized told KATU.
“Every year we connect with community through protest and community service to provide hundreds of meals to families who are living in poverty and forced systemic discrimination and oppression,” the Facebook post promoting the Don’t Shoot Portland event read.
“This year join us as we use this holiday season to remind Americans that the holidays and shopping don’t matter when families are suffering. Black Friday should not be a time to support capitalism it should be a time to BUILD COMMUNITIES,” the event post read.
“I was hoping that people will take that message and create a better future,” event coordinator Teressa Raiford told KATU.
The Hollywood transit station, where the anti-police artwork was displayed, was the site of a double murder in May after 35-year-old Jeremy Christian stabbed three people who were defending two Muslim teenage girls, The Oregonian reported.