Portland police say they’ve arrested a man on bias crime charges; he’s accused of making racist comments against someone and threatening them with an object that appeared to be a gun.
In a press release, police say an officer was in front of Portland Police Bureau’s Central Precinct on Friday afternoon when two cars pulled up, and one driver was yelling at the other.
Police say an investigation later revealed that one of the drivers, 54-year-old Neal Walker, pulled up to the other driver and made racist comments about them being of Asian descent. Walker pointed a black object at the other driver in a way that made it look like a gun, but it was later revealed to be a black plastic air hose, police say.
Walker was arrested on bias crime charges in the first and second degrees.
This is at least the second time Portland police have arrested someone on bias crime charges in less than a week, each time involving racist comments against someone of Asian descent. On July 2, a man was arrested and charged with a bias crime and is accused of attacking a family that was riding bikes along the Eastbank Esplanade. Police say the man punched a father and his 5-year-old daughter several times.