Eds. Note – this post will be expanded as the story continues. June 7 – name of the person assaulted is changed in news stories from Kevin Straw to Tessa Lovelace.
June 13, 2018 – Charges against Tessa Lovelace for resisting arrest and interfering with a police officer are either dropped or were never filed. Lovelace is recuperating at home with supportive family.
Marion County deputy who punched homeless person during arrest won’t face criminal charges
Oregonian, June 28, 2018
A Marion County deputy caught on video repeatedly punching a homeless person in the head during an arrest earlier this month in the Salem area won’t face any criminal charges because the deputy reasonably believed the blows were necessary to make the arrest, according to the county district attorney’s office.
Patrol deputy Jacob Thompson didn’t violate any laws regarding use of force based on the evidence gathered in the case, the district attorney’s office announced Friday. The case review included interviews with 18 witnesses and the reports from all five deputies involved in the arrest, but it’s unclear if Tessa Lovelace, the person hit and arrested, was among those spoken to by authorities.
A district attorney’s office spokeswoman didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Friday. The Marion County Sheriff’s Office took Thompson off patrol duty after the arrest and said Friday that he will continue to be on a non-patrol assignment as the agency now conducts an internal professional standards investigation.
Homeless person punched by deputy says ‘the whole thing shouldn’t have happened’
Oregonian – June 7, 2018
Tessa Lovelace said the encounter with deputies in Detroit resulted in a concussion, bloody nose, bruising, cuts and some hearing loss. Lovelace insisted Lovelace’s only goal was to warn of wild animals.
“I’m not a deranged individual,” Lovelace told The Oregonian/OregonLive on Wednesday. “And at no point was I resisting. I chose to relax and let the deputies do what they wanted. And they did.”
Lovelace identifies as non-binary, prefers the pronouns they/them, and has been referred to by police under the legal name Kevin Straw.
Video of the arrest taken by KGW shows Lovelace, 28, being taken to the ground by four county deputies and punched in the head at least 14 times by one of them. A fifth deputy joins the fray after the takedown of Lovelace, who is heard yelling for help.
“I came to warn you about the cougar,” Lovelace yells at one point in the video. “There’s a cougar. It’s hurting people.” Lovelace hasn’t seen the video footage.
Video of Oregon deputy repeatedly punching homeless man under review
A Marion County Sheriff’s Office deputy can be seen repeatedly punching a local transient during an arrest Monday in Detroit, Oregon.
A sheriff’s deputy can be seen repeatedly punching a local transient during an arrest Monday morning outside of a Marion County search-and-rescue command center for a missing father and son.
The arrest was caught on video by KGW.
The Marion County Sheriff’s Office addressed the incident in a written statement Monday afternoon, saying they “are reviewing that video along with all other documentation and reports related to the incident.”
Video of Marion County deputy punching homeless man during arrest under review, police say
From the Oregonian – June 5, 2018
A Marion County Sheriff’s deputy was caught on video repeatedly punching a man who kept yelling and wouldn’t stay away while emergency responders were coordinating a search for missing people on Monday. The county sheriff’s office says deputies “were left with no choice but to” but to arrest him.
The video, taken by KGW, shows four county deputies grab hold of Kevin Straw, 28, near the post office in Detroit, about 50 miles east of Salem. At least one deputy tells Straw he’s under arrest and they take him to the ground as he yells “no.” Within seconds, one of the deputies punches Straw in the head at least two dozen times as he screams for help, for the hits to stop and that he isn’t resisting.
“I came to warn you about the cougar,” Straw yells at one point. “There’s a cougar. It’s hurting people.”
Missing fishermen found near Detroit
Salem Statesman Journal – June 4, 2018
Related to the case, Marion County deputies arrested a transient living in the Detroit area for allegedly interfering with the search efforts.
Witnesses reported seeing Kevin Straw, 28, on Saturday yell at passersby about cougars and military special forces. A mental health Mobile Crisis Response Team responded, but Straw refused their help.
On Monday, Straw began to shout into the command center and radio operations center while deputies were conducting the search and rescue operations. After he became so disruptive staff was unable to hear search personnel, deputies asked him to leave. Straw returned to the command post twice, and deputies attempted to take him into custody.
According to the sheriff’s office, Straw “physical resisted and force was used to take him into custody.” Deputies found a large fixed blade knife in his possession.
He was evaluated by paramedics and met with the Mobile Crisis Response Team. Sheriff officials said they plan to cite Straw for resisting arrest and interfering with police before transporting him to the Salem Psychiatric Crisis Center.
Video footage capturing Straw’s arrest shows several deputies retaining him and appearing to hit him multiple times.
having lived in the country, that was not a “large” fixed blade knife… it makes you wonder what it would need to look like to be “small”…
secondly, I have seen people resist arrest, usually they are not face down on the ground with their head being punched from behind.
This person is obviously mentally ill. I am sure this was not the first time his unusual behaviour has caused him difficulty and pain. It does seem to me that the use of force was out of proportion; he was quickly brought face down, there were four other men, all apparently armed, seeking to control him; and the knife, while certainly a possible deadly wapon, was not something that I would describe as a “large” blade—it was about the size of a kitchen paring knife. He wasn’t even wielding the knife. 14 blows to the head followed by a man kneeling on that head seems too much.
Really Crazy! How obvious does police brutality
need to look like. 3 “brown shirts” holding down
a mentally ill homeless person while a 4th tries
unsuccessfully to beat the homeless person’s
head in.
Deputies should have been suspended pending
investigation. Possible witness tampering!
On a day we protest injustice. First, look to this
injustice perpetrated on a weak, homeless Marion
County man by Marion County deputies who swore
an oath to serve and protect!
Hi.
Tessa Lovelace here.
For what it’s worth, I’ve not been approached by anyone connected with the case(s), and I’ve definitely not been asked for my side of the story.
I have made several attempts to contact the Marion County law enforcement group, and have been given pretty much an ice cold shoulder. They don’t want to talk, they don’t want me around, and the head of the Oregon Sherrif’s Association yelled at me and then ordered me to get out of his building after I showed up asking questions about the training these five officers received.
I refuse to be silent.
I refuse to be their punching bag.
I’m punching back, because I am an engineer, a professional.
My mental illness is PTSD and chronic depression, not the absolute BS these ignorant clods are claiming.
If you’ve never seen a neurodivergent individual respond to multiple instances of violence before, if you’ve not spent 20+ years trying to understand autism spectrum disorder from the inside, if you’ve not spent time actually talking with me in a non-stress environment, you have one job: listening when the person in question (me) speaks up.
Detroit, Oregon, is going to be a *very* interesting place to watch in the next year and a half.
I have plans there, and this is just a minor setback, caused by people who should never have been in positions of authority in the first place.
I didn’t resist when they struck me.
But I’m resisting now.
Sorry this happened to you.
pOlIcE BrUtAliTy
For all those saying “omg why are there 6 blue shirt racist terrorists surrounding this innocent man”, the reason why cops come in high numbers is to increase their chance in success against the suspect. 1 on 1 is not the ideal position a cop wants to be in with a guy that has a knife. 2 on 1 the chances get slightly better. And with the number of the cops increasing so does their success rate, this could be put in literally any other scenario that includes the cops outnumbering the suspect.
Let’s not forget that this would’ve gone a lot smoother had he actually listened to the cops. Bc he was resisting he was put to the ground so the arrest could be easier for the cops. Also since he continued to passively resist, force is authorized in this situation. While I don’t entirely agree with the punches that were thrown they were completely justified from Straws actions.
Saying you’re disabled or that you’re not resisting doesn’t really mean anything to the cops while you’re being arrested. Imagine if the cops just said “oh you’re hurt? Lemme dust you off let you go on you’re marry way”, that’s what pain compliance is, it’s not meant to feel great. In the video I can understand that Straw is at a confusion as to whether cover your head from being punched or to put his hands behind his back and still be punched, that’s why I don’t really understand as to why they were thrown but again they’re still justified.
All in all there’s nothing to punish the cops for, they did their job and bc punches were thrown people wanna get all sensitive about it, would’ve been better if they just shot him right ?