A man was shot and killed in Portland, Oregon after officers allegedly responded to reports of person with a gun around 9:30 a.m. Friday morning.
The victim was a white man in his thirties, according to The Oregonian, which made sure to highlight the fact on social media.
The publication wrote “the man who was killed was a white male in his 30s, according to three sources with the knowledge of the situation,” in a since-deleted tweet. “The Oregonian/OregonLive is identifying the man’s race in light of social unrest prompted by police shootings of Black people.”
Deleted by @Oregonian pic.twitter.com/CB0SLoOHu6
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) April 16, 2021
The Oregonian attempted to clear up confusion in a follow-up tweet, writing: “We included information in an earlier tweet about why we identified the victim’s race that was poorly worded. It was not intended to minimize what happened, only to provide context. We generally do not identify race in news stories but often do when reporting police shootings.”
We included information in an earlier tweet about why we identified the victim’s race that was poorly worded. It was not intended to minimize what happened, only to provide context. We generally do not identify race in news stories but often do when reporting police shootings.
— The Oregonian (@Oregonian) April 16, 2021
Protests against police misconduct ramped up during the summer of 2020, when tens of thousands of Americans took to the streets, rioting and destroying property in response to the death of George Floyd. (RELATED: Judge Declines To Sequester Jury In Chauvin Trial Following Shooting, Riots In Minneapolis)
Floyd, who was an African-American man in his forties, died in the custody of the Minneapolis Police Department after police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for several minutes.