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Taya Graham: So Eli, looking back, what do you think has led up to Portland's bursts of protest? I know it seemed to start after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, but there has been activism against police misconduct in Portland before this, right?
Eli Richey: Police misconduct is really government misconduct. And if we look at Oregon historically, Oregon has always been, in terms of race politics, corrupt. In Oregon's constitution, there was a provision put in place that would prevent African-Americans from being able to own land. So from its very origins, there has been corruption in terms of equality.
Taya Graham: How have Portland residents responded to federal law enforcement coming in?
Eli Richey: As a resident, my opinion on it is that unfortunately, we're not going to see local political reform with the federal government here. I'm very much under the impression that you got to think globally but act locally. And so the federal officers here are kind of creating a diversion from the actual politics that have led to these problems here today.
When it comes to the riots, like Martin Luther King, I tend to agree that the destruction of property is a language in which these people speak. They used to own people. So property is much more important to them than our plight as people. So I'm glad to see the attention now being focused on reform. However, at the same time it scares a lot of people.
Taya Graham: Now, public officials have said that these federal agents seem to be intentionally trying to incite violence. Have you seen any evidence of this?
Eli Richey: I don't know what else to say except that first, they came for the cop watchers. And because people weren't cop watchers, they didn't do anything. And now that they're coming for the real quote-unquote journalists, I'm sorry, I don't know what to say.
I mean, I've exposed criminal informants working for ranking officials and PBB. Portland allowed a Nazi cop to retire. One that was in charge of the not only Criminal Intelligence Division, but Drug and Vice at one point. Who was responsible for approving the criminal informants who turned out to be a bunch of white supremacists.
Some could say I'm responsible for the reason why the Chief of Police left the city of Portland. We're just now having this conversation. And it took another man, another black man, to die in the most toxic fashion. And it's just disgusting.
Taya Graham: How has the Portland Police Department responded to your activism or your community outreach? Have you experienced any retaliation or had any charges pressed against you?
Eli Richey: Arrested 20 times in two years. Beat them all except for two. The chief of police, Danielle Outlaw, was successful at gaining a restraining order against me. It took two-and-a-half years for me to finally be able to have that seen in the appeals court and to have it reversed. A 27-page opinion was written and in fact was just used about a month ago to protect an activist in Little Rock, Arkansas.
But unfortunately, the constant fear of having the police raid my home caused me to take certain measures that split my family, unfortunately. So for safety reasons, it's damaged. I had to make certain steps to protect myself, which shifts damage from my family.
It's taken an extreme, personal toll on my life. However, it was for the right thing. And in some ways, patience is a virtue that we all don't have. And thankfully, it's one that I've been really practicing, and to see things come around to where we're at today is really exciting.
Taya Graham: So how important is the movement to film police?
Eli Richey: Simply going out there and holding a camera created such a controversy that I knew I was onto something. And I believe that it is one of the most American things that we could possibly do. If you look at our constitution and see the way that it was written, it is to protect us from government. And the way I've approached it is sticks and stones will break your bones, but words will never hurt you, especially if you're a professional.
With officers today having qualified immunity, the benefit of the doubt in an argument, what we see today worldwide is a demand for respect. Now, there's a lot of people saying that police just demand respect. Well, why?
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