Oregon Members of Congress Request Federal Investigation Into West Linn's Racist Policing

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Oregon's two US Senators, Sen. Jeff Merkley and Sen. Ron Wyden, have joined Oregon Congressman Earl Bluemenaur in demanding a federal civil rights investigation into the West Linn Police Department's retaliatory arrest and racist harassment of Black Portlander Michael Fesser, first reported on by the Oregonian

"All Oregonians must have full confidence that law enforcement at every level will treat them with fairness and without prejudice motivated by race or personal animus," write Merkley, Wyden, and Blumenaur in a joint letter to Billy Williams, the U.S. Attorney for Oregon. “A federal investigation of whether law enforcement violated Mr. Fesser’s civil rights will help to build that confidence, both by examining the facts in this case and sending a signal that every American’s civil rights must be followed scrupulously.”

In 2017, West Linn police officers surveilled, arrested, and detained Fesser in retaliation for Fesser raising concerns about racial discrimination at work to his boss, Eric Benson. In court documents, this arrest is described as a favor to Benson by his close friend, then-West Linn Police Chief Terry Timeus. Benson made the unfounded claim that Fesser had been stealing from his workplace, a Southeast Portland towing company. A West Linn officer who used to work for the PPB's gang enforcement team convinced his former coworkers at the PPB to arrest Fesser, since he lived and worked in Portland. Despite having no evidence of the alleged theft, the Multnomah County District Attorney's office indicted Fesser on five theft charges. Fesser then sued the City West Linn for discrimination, eventually winning $600,000 in a settlement agreement. All officers involved (aside from Timeus, who has since retired) are still employed as public law enforcement officials.

The Oregonian's coverage of this case has ignited investigations into the law enforcement bodies involved in this case, including the PPB, Clackamas County District Attorney's Office and Multnomah County District Attorney's Office. Gov. Kate Brown has also called for an investigation by the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training, and Oregon Labor Commissioner Val Hoyle announced an investigation by the Bureau of Labor and Industry (where Fesser had made a complaint regarding this treatment in 2017).

In the letter to Williams, the Oregon lawmakers acknowledged the other investigations, but stress the importance of a review at the federal level.

“This Feb. 12 story raises serious concerns about whether the West Linn Police Department may have violated the civil rights of Michael Fesser with the aid of Portland police officers by subjecting him to a cruel and prolonged odyssey of racial targeting that reflects the worst abuses of African-Americans in our nation’s modern history,” the letter reads.

In an email to the Mercury, a spokesperson for the US Attorney's office said, "we can neither confirm nor deny the existence of investigations."