Latest event at Portland’s ‘red house’ generates nearly 2 dozen 911 calls
The North Portland property where police and protesters engaged in a tense standoff late last year was the site of a large party Tuesday that spilled into the surrounding neighborhood and prompted nearly two dozen 911 calls.
The party at the so-called “red house” was advertised on Instagram, featured live music and drew between 100 and 150 people, according to neighbors who say they worry the site will continue to be the source of nuisance complaints as warmer weather approaches. The property is located at 4406 N. Mississippi Ave.
One neighbor, Dylan Kruse, said he called 911 to report trespassing on his property and later spoke with a police officer about the assault of a woman associated with the party. Kruse said he heard the woman screaming. Kruse said the officer told him that police would not “insert officers into the situation.”
Kruse said his fence was tagged with an anti-police message overnight.
The red house and adjacent empty lot remain largely unchanged since becoming a flashpoint for protesters late last year after authorities arrived to evict people from the home, though a makeshift stage for performers appears to have been added. Signs around the mostly boarded up house say, “Land back,” “Protest the red house” and “Indigenous solidarity for black liberation.”
A Moroccan flag still flies in front of the house, a nod to the Moorish sovereign beliefs of William Kinney, who goes by William X. Nietzche. The home previously belonged to Kinney’s parents, who lost the property through foreclosure. Kinney embraces the sovereign citizen movement, a fringe belief system whose adherents profess they are above the law.
Meanwhile, talks about both properties appear to have stalled. Libra Forde, chief operating officer at Self Enhancement Inc., a prominent nonprofit that has long served the area’s Black youths and families, said her organization remains interested in acquiring the empty lot, but the review process continues.
By the end of the year, it seemed a deal that would turn the house over to the Kinneys had been brokered, but little has happened since. A spokesman for Mayor Ted Wheeler said he needed to check on the status of talks about the properties and did not get back to The Oregonian/OregonLive by day’s end.
Portland police Sgt. Kevin Allen said the city received “numerous noise complaint calls in that neighborhood last night.”
He said it does not appear that officers responded in person but they did return calls to people who wanted to speak with an officer.
He said limited police resources mean police “will always prioritize life safety emergencies.”
“They also would factor in that any response there would require more officers to respond as there has been hostility toward the police from some community members at that location,” he said in an email to The Oregonian/OregonLive.
He said police did receive a complaint about an assault “but the officer’s notes indicate the complainant decided to call back another time.”
– Noelle Crombie; ncrombie@oregonian.com; 503-276-7184; @noellecrombie
https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2021/04/latest-event-at-portlands-red-house-generates-nearly-2-dozen-911-calls.html