Krantz vows investigation, protesters surround Bend police HQ day after melee
(Update: Adding video, more on Sunday protest)
Bend police chief: 'Let me be clear: I am anti-white supremacy.'
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- One day after rallies by President Trump supporters and Black Lives Matter participants turned into a melee, Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz vowed a full investigation of all alleged crimes as protesters surrounded police headquarters Sunday evening and blocked Highway 20 and 15th Street for a time.
The protesters that are blocking Highway 20 East and NE 15th Street need to move immediately as this is criminal behavior.
— City of Bend Police Department #BendPolice (@BendCityPolice) October 5, 2020
Protesters at Sunday evening's rally said they felt police weren't fair in how they treated the two groups on Saturday.
Some participants wrote statements in chalk on the police department's walls and bench, such as "PIGS," "KKK KRANTZ" and "You should be uncomfortable with your hate."
One Sunday protest participant who asked not to be named said, "I'd love to be optimistic and say that stuff is changing in Central Oregon, but it's not. And I really feel like it's getting worse, because right-wing people are getting ballsy and approaching us and definitely trying to instigate more violence on us."
But the Trump rally organizer, Nicholas Dieringer, said Sunday they were not looking to cause trouble. "When the BLM showed up and the Peacemakers showed up, they clearly wanted to cause negativity and have a hostile environment," he said.
Bend resident Stephanie Vanklootwyk said Sunday a man pointed a gun at her and others during Saturday's event, and while questioned by police was not arrested. She also claimed she was bruised by police officers.
"I was absolutely petrified," she told NewsChannel 21. "Never in my life would I think that I would see first-hand my police department of my hometown not doing their job."
Krantz said "a large group" of protesters blocked officers from leaving the park on Saturday by blocking their vehicles, and after being warned to do so was a crime, "these persons were physically moved by officers with as minimal force as was necessary to move them," adding that several people "punched, hit and assaulted officers" as they did so.
Krantz added the those who blocked officers and assaulted or harassed them will be referred to the DA's office "for formal charges."
An Instagram post Sunday by Central Oregon Peacekeepers said protesters would gather at 5 p.m. at the lower Ponderosa Skate Park, claiming the police department "refused to denounce white supremacy and has continued to racially police." They alleged officers assaulted two women of color Saturday. (The protest apparently was moved or traveled to the nearby police headquarters.)
"We the people demand justice and a conversation with Chief Krantz," the posting stated, also calling for arrest of the man who drew the gun.
Someone who asked not to be named told NewsChannel 21 the man pointed the gun "in self-defense" of himself and his property after his truck was twice Maced. Others disputed that account and said the Mace was used after the gun incident.
Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel told us Sunday he'd been receiving numerous messages about what took place and will investigate all allegations equally.
" I'm going to look at everything that happened," he said.
"If somebody thinks a police officer committed a crime, I'm going to say, 'Well, let me look at the evidence and decide,'" Hummel said.
"If someone thinks a Trump supporter committed a crime, let me see the evidence," the DA added. "If someone thinks a Black Lives Matter supporter committed a crime, I'm going to review the evidence. So it's no different with an allegation against a police officer."
Meanwhile on Saturday, away from the confrontation, organizers of a pro-Trump car cruise organized by the local Republican Party had more than 100 cars involved and stayed peaceful, according to a participant who said information wasn't shared ahead of time on social media to avoid conflicts like seen in Bend.
Here's the full statement issued Sunday evening by Police Chief Mike Krantz:
The Bend Police Department holds our mission to “Protect and Serve” close to our hearts. It is our guiding light. We will continue to protect and serve our entire community equitably and with no hesitation in consideration of political party affiliation or ideological identities.
The Bend Police Department denounces any and all violence and criminal activity. Our goal is to ensure that all members of our community feel safe and do not have fear of being victimized, ever. The Bend Police Department and our community does not stand for violence, especially violence associated to hate and bias. I did send an email to many community leaders this week with this text “My comments about leaving the statement-making to the elected officials in our community was made in deference to elected leaders who have the political platform and legislative responsibility for making policies that help guide our public agencies and community. My comments were only meant to delineate our different roles; staff members or elected leaders. They were not meant to avoid the topic or suggest silence on the topic. Let me be clear: I am anti-white supremacy.”
Our intent is to work with our partners within the criminal justice system to hold people accountable for criminal behavior and we will continue to work with that intent.
The Bend Police Department evaluates all events that fall under First Amendment protections. We must provide community members the ability to freely express their rights and not infringe on those First Amendment rights. However, rights to free speech do not include engaging in behavior that is defined as a crime under Oregon, federal or local law, and we will work to ensure that people who engage in criminal behavior will be held accountable.
We ask all community members who wish to engage in expression of these rights to keep interactions peaceful and non-violent, to keep all community members safe and follow all laws. We ask that if community members engage in events, do not bring weapons as typically that would escalate the situation.
Yesterday afternoon there was an event at Pilot Butte Neighborhood Park that was originally described as a political rally. In conjunction with this event, another event was planned at the same location earlier in the day. These two different groups could be described as having opposite ideological views. Approximately 100-150 people in total were present at the park.
Most of the day was generally peaceful, however, towards the end of the event, there were reports of someone from one group stealing a flag from a person from the other group, this theft resulted in a fight.
Officers were called to the scene and upon arrival, developed probable cause to arrest the person who stole the flag and wrote that person a citation. We also took several reports of people being assaulted, people being sprayed with bear spray, potentially people being shocked with personal electronic weapons and a report of one person pointing a firearm at another. Additionally, later in the night we received information that a fight involving two groups downtown resulted in someone firing a flare gun at another person.
As Bend PD officers were attempting to leave Pilot Butte Neighborhood Park last night, a large group of people blocked the officers exits and would not let them leave by sitting and standing in front of their vehicles. Officers provided warnings that they were committing criminal activity of interfering with police officers and they would be moved by offices if they did not move. Ultimately, these persons were physically moved by officers with as minimal force as was necessary to move them, during this, several of the people punched, hit and assaulted officers. Ultimately, the people who were blocking the officers and who assaulted or harassed officers will be documented in an investigate report and those cases will be referred to the district attorney’s office for formal charges.
We are asking that if any person was a victim of a crime at yesterday’s event, to contact the non-emergency line at (541) 693-6911, and report that crime so we can conduct an investigation.
Bend Police Department officers took reports on many crimes that were reported, we will be conducting follow up investigations on all of these reports of criminal acts. We will work with the District Attorney’s office to ensure that anyone engaged in crimes will be held accountable with appropriate criminal charges.
In large crowd events, frequently the time to make an arrest is balanced with resources, crowd dynamics and if we have enough information to develop probable cause at the time.
Many times, we need to take time after the event to request and review videos that may be sent to us, gather victim information and gather all additional evidence. This takes substantial resources and time to ensure the Bend Police Department is providing the Deschutes County District Attorney’s Office with all of the evidence we can.
Today, several groups involved in yesterday’s events have planned a march to the Bend Police Department to protest against police actions from yesterday. These groups have demanded that I meet with them. I have offered to meet with the organizers several times to hear their complaints, however, my offers have been rebuffed.
We have planned to have resources available to provide overall safety today for this planned event. We will continue to support community member’s First Amendment rights. If people engage in criminal acts, we will continue to hold persons accountable for criminal behavior as needed.
We encourage all community members to remain peaceful, to not commit criminal acts.
This event planned by these groups have caused us to focus resources away from our normal patrol duties. Community members may experience a delay in time for officers to arrive to an emergency call for service if we are called tonight. Tonight the Bend Police Department lobby is closed. If you are in need of police service, please continue to utilize 911 for emergencies and the non-emergency number (541) 693-6911 for reporting non-emergency crimes.
