May 25th, 2017

FEATURING:

Family and loved ones of Quanice Hayes, testifying to city leaders about Quanice's life and death and making urgent pleas for police reform. Quanice Hayes was a 17-year-old black teenager who was fatally shot by Portland Police Officer Andrew Hearst on the morning of February 9th, 2017. Police say he was a robbery suspect who they believed to be armed when they fatally shot him as he was on his knees; officers reported finding a replica gun near his body after the shooting but did not see a weapon before firing. His loved ones and community activists dispute aspects of the police account of events & the way Quanice has been portrayed after his death, characterizing his shooting as another example of the racist police violence that the Black Lives Matter movement seeks to highlight across the US. The shooting prompted ongoing protests in Portland, including some that shut down City Hall proceedings. When a grand jury found that Officer Hearst was justified in the shooting and chose not to indict him for the incident, Quanice Hayes' mother Venus called for a federal investigation into her son's death.

On May 24th, family and loved ones of Quanice Hayes were invited to give two hours of uninterrupted testimony to Mayor Ted Wheeler & city commissioners, which they called the "Quanice's Life for Change Tribute." Featured in this episode are excerpts of testimony by Donna Hayes, Quanice's grandmother; Terrence Hayes, Quanice's cousin; and Bella Aguilar, Quanice's girlfriend.

Full video of the council meeting can be viewed here. (May 24th 2017 PM)