Michael Ray Townsend was shot and killed by Portland police officer Curtis Brown last week during a "welfare check". Townsend made the emergency call himself, telling responders that he was having suicidal thoughts and was armed. Security footage of the officers with Townsend shows them talking calmly, then back away from him suddenly and drawing their guns. Townsend gets up, apparently brandishing a weapon — a tire changing tool, say police — and advances toward them. Then Brown kills him.
His death fits a familiar pattern in Portland, where police are under a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice for using excessive, and sometimes deadly, force against people living with mental health needs. … In the early 2000s, Townsend was diagnosed with bipolar depression and schizophrenia. Steven said right up until June 24, the day he was killed by a Portland police officer, her brother struggled to get help for his mental health.
