PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A reporter at KOIN 6 media partner Portland Tribune believes he spoke with the victim of last night’s shooting hours before it happened in a parking lot at the Clackamas Town Center Mall.
It was the starting point of Saturday’s miles-long parade from Clackamas to downtown Portland in support of President Trump’s re-election campaign.
Reporter Zane Sparling posted photos of two men to social media.
The man in the shorts matches other images of the shooting victim on the ground downtown. The demonstrators told Sparling they showed up to protect those participating in the rally.
“What happened in downtown is not entirely clear at this point,” Sparling told KOIN 6. He’s been covering the protests for the last three months.
“But what we know is that when people are offering security services or sort of just volunteering and showing up, it can lead to confrontations, and if people don’t have training or any real support system other than perhaps the people or the associates they show up with… it can lead to these violent encounters, and in this case a tragic death.”
Sparling says they’re waiting to report the name of the man until police identify him.
He says the men were wearing hats representing Patriot Prayer, an activist group involved with protests against Antifa.
Patriot Prayer founder Joey Gibson confirmed the victim was a supporter of the group.
“I can’t say much right now. All I can do is verify that he was a good friend and a supporter of Patriot Prayer,” Gibson said of the shooting victim in a text exchange with The Associated Press.