PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The mother of Patrick Kimmons, a Black man killed by Portland police, led a group gathered outside Portland City Hall asking Mayor Ted Wheeler to reopen her son’s case on Thursday morning.
Kimmons, 27, was shot and killed by Portland police on Sept. 30, 2018 near Southwest 4th and Harvey Milk Street. The investigation into his death revealed that moments before officers fired at him, Kimmons shot 2 people during a fight. According to police, Sgt. Garry Britt and Officer Jeffery Livingston both shot Kimmons. They said he was armed and refused to listen to commands.
On Thursday, she said there was no reason why Portland officers had to shoot her son 9 times.
“If they felt like their life was being threatened at any given time, they should have shot him in the front of his body and not waited like a coward to turn and try to run between two vehicles,” Letha Winston, Kimmons’ mother said. “He did not have a gun in his hand at the time that your officers killed my son.”
A grand jury ruled that the officers’ actions were justified. However, Kimmons’ mother is still fighting for officers to change their use-of-force protocol.
“I’m not going to ever be able to sleep. It’s a year and I still got anxiety,” She said on the one year anniversary of his death. “There are different ways to stop a person from running — not shooting a person nine times, that’s excessive force.”
Kimmons was shot 9 times, but the Multnomah County Medical Examiner’s report revealed they were in various parts of his body: right lower leg, right buttocks, right lower mid buttocks, left mid buttocks, left upper buttocks/flank, left thigh, left groin, left chest, right chest.
Another march was held on June 25 with protesters demanding justice for Kimmons. When protesters attempted to create an autonomous zone in Portland’s Pearl District on June 18, some dubbed it the Patrick Kimmons Autonomous Zone.