PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A man who was wrongfully investigated and arrested is frustrated at the conviction of one of the officers the Oregon Attorney General said was responsible for his mistreatment.
Former West Linn Police Sergeant Tony Reeves was convicted Wednesday after pleading no contest to official misconduct for withholding information in a case against Michael Fesser, a Black man from Portland.
“I wouldn’t want to say it’s a step in the right direction, but it’s not that because the main players that were involved in this, nothing happened to them,” Fesser said.
According to Fesser’s account and the Oregon AG’s investigation, Fesser approached his boss, Eric Benson, back in 2017 at A&B towing about racist remarks and actions made towards him by coworkers.
Benson reacted by requesting then-sergeant Tony Reeves to conduct a criminal investigation of Fesser. A lawsuit from Fesser against the department claimed Reeves, another sergeant and then-police chief Terry Timeus manufactured a case claiming Fesser was stealing from his employer.
In the course of the fraudulent investigation, Reeves and Benson reportedly exchanged several racist and homophobic text messages about Fesser.
Reeves was convicted for deleting those texts and not turning them over to Fesser’s legal team after Fesser was wrongfully arrested.
Fesser said he feels it was “something you’ve seen that happens in the 60s or 50s.”
“My case is not the only one. It’s just the one that was exposed,” Fesser said. “Thank God I was able to survive and not be killed, like some of the other Black men have.”
Fesser says he still fears for his safety in West Linn.
While he acknowledges leadership changes and Reeves’ license being revoked, he does not feel like there has been cultural or actionable change in the department.
“They haven’t done anything and I’ve met some great people, some nice folks, that want the change but their voices are not being heard.” Fesser said.
West Linn Police did not reply to KOIN’s request for comment.
Fesser said he only learned about the conviction from text messages Friday morning but was not contacted by the AG’s office throughout the course of the case. Fesser says that’s frustrating to him.
Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum’s office did not reply to Fesser’s concerns, but it did release a statement announcing the conviction.
“It will be understandable if there are those in the Fesser family, Mr. Fesser himself, or others impacted community members who feel dissatisfied,” the statement read. “I sincerely hope this case will serve as a wake up call that we can and must do better as a society.”
Reeves sentence includes 18 months of probation, 85 hours of community service and 15 hours of cultural diversity training. He currently lives in Montana.
Fesser doesn’t believe jail time was necessary but says Reeves “just needs to work on himself.”