Demonstrations following the fatal shooting of a 21-year-old Black man by Clark County deputies continued for a second straight night Friday as questions intensified surrounding his death.
Hundreds of people gathered near where Kevin Peterson Jr. was shot and killed one day earlier. Deputies approached him because they believed he may have been selling drugs in the parking lot of a suburban Vancouver hotel, investigators said.
The exact circumstances of the shooting remain unclear. The Southwest Washington Independent Investigative Response Team, which is investigating the shooting, said Peterson “produced” a gun before deputies fired. Yet earlier Friday, Clark County Sheriff Chuck Atkins said Peterson shot first at deputies. Investigators said they found a .40-caliber Glock pistol near Peterson’s body.
Peterson was on the phone with his partner at the time he was shot, said his partner, Olivia Selto. She said Peterson was running during the phone call and then she heard multiple gunshots before the line went silent. She said she didn’t know what led to the fatal encounter.
Peterson was a father of an infant daughter. He grew up in Portland and went to high school in Vancouver. He most recently lived in Camas.
The shooting occurred near a US Bank along Highway 99 in Hazel Dell in unincorporated Clark County. Opposing demonstrations converged at the site Friday evening, standing across the highway from each other. The first group held a candlelit vigil in Peterson’s memory. The second, smaller group responded to calls to “take a stand” against violence carried out by “Portland antifa."
Tensions between people on either side escalated into shouting matches and skirmishes. Police stayed away. Black Lives Matter supporters eventually made their way to downtown Vancouver, where a late-night march drew hundreds of people.
Before the memorial got underway earlier Friday evening, a Black woman used a megaphone to tell people not to engage the opposing crowd. About 40 people gathered in a semicircle and silently placed lit candles on the ground. One person wept.
“I have a Black brother and a Black dad and Black friends, and I would hate to see this happen to one of them,” said Natalie Scott, of Vancouver. “And if this happened to them, this is exactly what I would want everybody to be doing. Standing up for them. Or me, even.”
Peterson’s relatives also arrived at the memorial, holding onto each other as some cried. The crowd gathered near the vigil grew to about 300 people by 8 p.m. One speaker encouraged people to keep attending Black Lives Matter protests to end police violence against Black people.
“We need equity and we need equality," the organizer said. "We need accountability and we need transparency from the police.”
After a moment of silence, activist Mac Smiff addressed the crowd.
“I used to live in Vancouver, Washington when I was younger," Smiff said. "One of the reasons I moved back to Portland is because I always felt targeted here. There was a time when I lived here before I moved back to Portland when my wife and I had to switch cars because every day the would pull me over.”
News of Peterson’s killing gained immediate attention and sparked a small protest late Thursday, hours after he was shot and killed. Police cars blocked protesters from getting near the shooting site. The demonstrations against his killing continued throughout the day Friday.
After organizers announced plans for Friday night’s vigil, right-wing groups told people on social media to be on alert. Patriot Prayer leader Joey Gibson, known for organizing right-wing events that frequently lead to violent clashes in downtown Portland, warned “Portland antifa” may try to damage property and encouraged a “show of force” in response.
“The people of Vancouver will not stand down," Gibson said in a video posted to YouTube.
About two dozen people had gathered across from the vigil by 7 p.m. Many waved President Donald Trump or pro-police flags. Some counter-protesters also gathered farther away. Seven people carrying rifles stood guard outside a Franz Bakery about one block from the vigil site.
Drivers honked as they drove between the two crowds; it was impossible to tell which side they supported.
Officers did not arrive to police the crowds. After some cars drove quickly between the demonstrations, left-wing protesters blocked off traffic near the vigil site.
Vigil organizers announced shortly after 9 p.m. that they were moving the memorial to a downtown Vancouver park. As the crowd began leaving the vigil, a police vehicle drove by and was met with loud screams.
Verbal altercations also continued to break out between some people and about 50 counter-demonstrators standing in the parking lot of a nearby bar.
After one clash, pepper spray filled the air and people ran from the parking lot. One man got help after being sprayed in the face. “I can’t breathe,” he said after a protest medic flushed out his eyes.
As the scene remained tense, the crowd from the earlier vigil reconvened in downtown Vancouver and marched through town. Marchers looped past City Hall before heading north. Police vehicles blocked the crowd at Evergreen Boulevard near an Interstate 5 overpass, which would have led to the Vancouver Police Department. The group then walked away from officers and returned toward downtown.
The march made its way to the Clark County Superior Court building, which sits across Franklin Street from a federal building. About 40 federal officers arrived at the same time as marchers and stood guard outside the building. The Federal Protective Service used a loudspeaker to warn people to stay off the property. Hundreds of marchers responded by chanting, “Say his name! Kevin Peterson!” Someone burned a flag in the street. The crowd eventually began to march around area by 11:15 p.m.
Some people in the crowd threw rocks toward lower-level windows in the county courthouse building, smashing holes in some glass panes. Some people sprayed anti-police messages on industrial buildings as the march continued to weave through downtown. A helicopter whirred overhead as protesters chanted “Whose life matters? Black lives matter!”
The march returned to the Esther Short Park, where it began, around 11:45 p.m. Many people left, but a smaller group began to march again shortly after midnight. Live videos on social media showed some people had smashed more windows at county government buildings. Law enforcement vehicles and officers in riot gear arrived soon after. The Clark County Sheriff’s Office labeled the gathering an unlawful assembly and told people they needed to leave.
Police started walking and driving toward the crowd. As people were leaving, three drivers were involved in an altercation. It was unclear why. One person fired two shots from one of the vehicles, an SUV, before driving away. No one appeared hurt.
Police continued to press people back toward the park, where officers then told the remaining crowd to leave. Dozens of people remained there by 12:45 a.m.
Vancouver police said later Saturday morning that police arrested six adults for failing to disperse after police told ordered people to leave downtown.
-- Catalina Gaitán; @catalinagaitan_
Beth Nakamura, Shane Dixon Kavanaugh, Noelle Crombie and Samantha Swindler of The Oregonian/OregonLive contributed to this report, which has been updated.
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