What a way to go

Portlanders should not scroll past the story of the 82-year-old man who was beaten and kicked to death on the downtown transit mall on a recent Saturday evening, a half hour before sunset. His name was Donald Pierce. He and his 88-year-old friend were brutally assaulted, allegedly by this psychopath, whose name is Keffer White:

They're not allowed to show you his mug shot any more, but he's got several old ones on file, so there he is.

According to police, the attack was completely unprovoked. Mr. Pierce walked with a cane.

According to Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt, the men were waiting for a bus at Southwest 5th and Hall when they were attacked. White reportedly approached them, began to yell, made fun of them for being older and became more aggressive.... Officers in the area heard the screams of witnesses and arrested White at the scene on two counts of second-degree assault and an outstanding warrant. Witnesses told police White said during the attack he was going to kill the men.

Why was this murderer roaming the streets near Portland State? No good reason that I can see.

White had been put on post-prison supervision in a strangulation case and on misdemeanor probation for punching a police officer in the head. His supervision was out of Washington County because of his address. He also has an open case from January in Multnomah County.

The assistant director of Washington County Community Corrections said White's "been mostly out of compliance [with probation] since the January incident." In fact, he had a warrant for defying supervision just 11 days before the attack on the two men in Portland.

According to court records, White skipped at least four court dates in the January case.

To the mayor, the City Council, the police chief, the police union, the county sheriff, the district attorney, and especially to all the judges of the county courts, I say: Shame on you. Start doing your damn jobs before some other vulnerable person dies down there. 

And to anybody else who might look like a potential crime victim, I say: Stay out of downtown.