Teressa Raiford | |
|---|---|
 Raiford's official 2020 campaign portrait | |
| Born | Teressa Raiford 1970 (age 52–53) |
| Occupation(s) | Activist, community organizer, former political candidate |
| Organization | Don't Shoot Portland |
| Movement | |
Teressa Raiford (born 1970) is an American activist and politician in Portland, Oregon. She founded the local Black-led non-profit Don't Shoot Portland.
When Raiford was a child, her grandparents' restaurant was the site of a racist action in which Portland police officers threw dead possums onto the business' doorstep. The incident prompted substantial protests against racial injustice. [1]
On the morning of September 26, 2010, Raiford's nephew Andre Dupree Payton was shot and killed in downtown Portland. [2] The case remains unsolved. In response, Raiford started Don't Shoot Portland, a group of activists who work for police accountability within the Portland Police Bureau and Multnomah County Sheriff's Office. [3] [4]
In 2015, Raiford was arrested, charged and jailed [5] for obstructing traffic and disorderly conduct by five officers, at a march she had organized to honor Michael Brown. In 2016 the case was dismissed by a jury. In 2017, Raiford filed a countersuit claiming damages of $500,000, [6] claiming she was "signaled [ sic ] out for her outspokenness against police violence" and claiming officers made disparaging comments as they arrested her. The case was dismissed by a judge in 2019. [7]
In June 2020, Don't Shoot Portland filed a class-action lawsuit against the City of Portland for seeking a temporary restraining order to force the Portland Police Bureau from using tear gas in the city. [8] Don't Shoot Portland also published an in-depth report on Riot Control Agents, describing the irreparable harm caused by RCAs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In July 2020, Don't Shoot PDX and Wall of Moms filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, claiming that President Trump's deployment of federal forces to Portland was unlawful. [9]
In 2022, Raiford was critical of public misinformation provided by the Portland police in the aftermath of the Normandale Park shooting and called for an independent investigation. [10]
Raiford attempted to unseat Commissioner Amanda Fritz in the 2012 Portland City Council election. She finished in 4th out of 5th place with 3,840 votes (3.21%).
In the 2014 County Commission elections, Raiford attempted to unseat then Commissioner Loretta Smith. Raiford finished 3rd out of 4th place with 1,986 votes (6.56%).
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Loretta Smith | 23,644 | 78.11% | |
| Nonpartisan | Bruce Broussard | 3,595 | 11.88 | |
| Nonpartisan | Teressa Raiford | 1,986 | 6.56 | |
| Nonpartisan | Kelvin Hall | 881 | 2.91% | |
| none of the above | write-ins | 163 | 0.54% | |
| Total votes | 1,092,746 | 100.0% | ||
Raiford announced a write-in campaign against Mike Reese, former Portland Police chief, who was running unopposed. [11] Reese won with 96.55% of the vote.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Mike Reese (Incumbent) | 88,146 | 96.55% | |
| Nonpartisan | Teressa Raiford (Write-in) | 3,000 | 3.28% | |
| write-ins | 150 | 0.16% | ||
| Total votes | 60,422 | 100% | ||
Raiford announced her plan to run for mayor in late 2017, [12] being one of the first candidates to announce her plan. In late 2019 and early 2020, she began recruiting volunteers and actively campaigning. On May 19, 2020, Raiford lost the primary election to Ted Wheeler and Sarah Iannarone, coming in 3rd place with 18,310 votes (8.40%).
After her defeat in the primary, supporters of Raiford have promoted a write-in campaign, [13] although Raiford has said she won’t be actively campaigning. [14]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Ted Wheeler (incumbent) | 107,241 | 49.29% | |
| Nonpartisan | Sarah Iannarone | 51,849 | 23.82% | |
| Nonpartisan | Teressa Raiford | 18,310 | 8.40% | |
| Nonpartisan | Ozzie González | 12,632 | 5.80% | |
| Nonpartisan | Bruce Broussard | 11,336 | 5.20% | |
| Nonpartisan | Randy Rapaport | 3,816 | 1.75% | |
| Nonpartisan | Piper Crowell | 3,272 | 1.50% | |
| Nonpartisan | Mark White | 2,308 | 1.06% | |
| Nonpartisan | Cash Carter | 1,488 | 0.68% | |
| Nonpartisan | Sharon Joy | 901 | 0.42% | |
| Nonpartisan | Willie Banks | 789 | 0.36% | |
| Nonpartisan | Daniel Hoffman | 702 | 0.32% | |
| Nonpartisan | Michael O'Callaghan | 629 | 0.29% | |
| Nonpartisan | Michael Burleson | 406 | 0.19% | |
| Nonpartisan | Lew Humble | 299 | 0.14% | |
| Nonpartisan | Michael Jenkins | 262 | 0.12% | |
| Nonpartisan | Beryl McNair | 259 | 0.12% | |
| Nonpartisan | Jarred Bepristis | 105 | 0.05% | |
| Nonpartisan | Floyd LaBar | 95 | 0.04% | |
| Write-in | 861 | 0.40% | ||
| Total votes | 217,560 | 100.00% | ||
Edward Tevis Wheeler is an American politician who has served as the mayor of Portland, Oregon since 2017. He was Oregon State Treasurer from 2010 to 2016.
Kyron Richard Horman is an American boy who disappeared from Skyline Elementary School in Portland, Oregon, on June 4, 2010, after attending a science fair. Local and state police, along with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), conducted an exhaustive search and launched a criminal investigation, but have not uncovered any significant information regarding the child's whereabouts. Horman's disappearance sparked the largest criminal investigation in Oregon history.
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Cameron Whitten is an American community activist best known for advocacy on affordable housing, racial justice, and LGBT rights.
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The shooting of Korryn Gaines occurred on August 1, 2016, in Randallstown, Maryland, near Baltimore, resulting in the death of Gaines, a 23-year-old woman, and the shooting of her son, who survived. According to the Baltimore County Police Department, officers sought to serve Gaines a warrant in relation to an earlier traffic violation. She had refused to vacate her vehicle or show her driver's license, and resisted arrest. Immediately after the first officer entered her home to serve the warrant, Gaines pointed a shotgun at him, prompting him to withdraw without shots being fired. The Baltimore County SWAT team responded and a standoff began. She recorded and live streamed to Facebook where Gaines's friends told her to "continue on". She is seen to have told her son that "the police are coming to kill us". Upon her refusal to let them in, police got a key from the rental office but found the chain lock blocked their entry. An officer then kicked in the door. Police say Gaines pointed a shotgun at an officer, telling him to leave.
Don't Shoot Portland, also called Don't Shoot PDX, is a Portland, Oregon-based accountability group formed by Black Lives Matter supporter Teressa Raiford to scrutinize actions of the Portland Police Bureau.
On May 19, 2020 and November 3, 2020, elections were held in Portland, Oregon, to elect the mayor.
Starting in May 2020, demonstrations over the police murder of George Floyd were held in the city of Portland, Oregon, concurrent with protests in other cities in the United States and around the world. By July 2020, many of the protests, which had been held every day since May 28, drew more than 1,000 participants. Protests continued into August, September, and October 2020, often drawing hundreds.
Michael Reese is an American law enforcement officer who served as the sheriff of Multnomah County, Oregon (2016–2022), the county where Portland is located.
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Elbert Darrell Mondainé is a pastor and political activist in Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon.
The Red House eviction defense was an occupation protest at a foreclosed house on North Mississippi Avenue in the Humboldt neighborhood in the Albina district, a historically Black district of Portland, Oregon, United States.
Demetria Hester is a Black activist, speaker, and hate crime survivor based in Portland, Oregon. She is a frequent organizer of and speaker at Portland's George Floyd protests, Black Lives Matter rallies, and vigils for victims of police violence.
Moms United for Black Lives is an activist group based in Portland, Oregon, with branches in other U.S. cities, including New York and San Diego. The group was a fixture at the George Floyd protests in Portland, wearing yellow shirts, helmets, goggles and gas masks, and leading hundreds of people in chants as they marched to the federal courthouse.
A mural of George Floyd was painted by Emma Berger outside Portland, Oregon's Apple Pioneer Place, on June 1, 2020, a week after his murder, against the background of the ongoing protests against police brutality. She expanded the mural to show Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor and phrases associated with the Black Lives Matter movement. The work was vandalized in August, and repaired by the artist. It was covered by Apple Inc. in December for preservation, then removed in January 2021 to be donated to Don't Shoot PDX.
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