National Roundup

Oregon
Police find no evidence of bias, terror motive in road rampage

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Investigators have found no evidence that terrorism, politics or any bias motivated the rampage of a 64-year-old Oregon man who witnesses said repeatedly drove into people along streets and sidewalks in Portland, killing a 77-year-old woman and injuring nine other people, police said.

Police identified the driver as Paul Rivas of Oregon City. He was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center on initial charges of second-degree murder, assault and failure to perform the duties of a driver, the Portland Police Bureau said in a news release.

Rivas is accused of striking the woman, who was dragged a short distance beneath the wheels of a small SUV, and then continuing to drive, hitting other people and vehicles. After the driver fled on foot, neighbors surrounded him until police arrived.

The Oregon State Medical Examiner determined that Jean Gerich died of blunt force trauma and ruled her death a homicide, according to police. Police released a statement from her family thanking the people at the scene who tried to help her.

"Jean Gerich was not a nameless victim. She was a loving mother of two. She was a proud grandmother of five, ages 4 to 16. She would have turned 78 in twelve days. She beat cancer five years ago.
She received her first vaccination shot last week and was overjoyed to get out in the world again," the family said.

Larry Wolfe told The Oregonian/OregonLive that he had an appointment with the woman who was killed and saw her get hit by the car and scream. He was walking toward her when the car came back, hit her again, did a U-turn and dragged her along the pavement, he said. The driver eventually crashed and ran away before a group of people corralled him, Carmon said.

Police said Rivas' actions did show he intended to hit and injure people, but that "detectives did not find evidence that this was an act of terrorism. Detectives did not find bias indicators, nor do they believe this is politically motivated."

The Oregonian reported that Rivas had a history of driving dangerously, citing court records that show he got his license reinstated in 2014 after being convicted three times for failing to obey traffic signals, in 2007, 2011 and 2013.

The driver hit pedestrian after pedestrian while speeding down residential streets at up to 60 mph, police spokesman Derek Carmon said. Callers to police said someone driving a Honda Element was striking people and vehicles over a 15-block span. A total of ten people were hit, including two cyclists. Most were pedestrians. One man with a head injury couldn't remember whether he had gotten out of his car before being struck, police said. Most suffered minor injuries and were recovering, police said.


Wisconsin
Rittenhouse, mother fixated on social media treatment

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — An Illinois teen accused of killing two people during unrest in Wisconsin and the teen's mom were fixated on social media comments about them in the hours after his August arrest, newly released police video shows.

Police in Antioch, Illinois, on Monday released four hours of video taken after Kyle Rittenhouse turned himself in hours after the Aug. 25 protest in Kenosha, the  Chicago Tribune reported.  The protest was part of a series of chaotic demonstrations that ensued after a white Kenosha officer shot Jacob Blake, who is Black, in the back seven times during a domestic dispute. Rittenhouse is white.

Prosecutors say Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time, opened fire during the protest, killing Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber and wounding Gaige Grosskreutz. Rittenhouse faces multiple charges, including intentional homicide. He has argued he was protecting businesses and fired in self-defense. Conservatives have rallied around him, generating enough money to make his $2 million cash bail.

Cellphone video shows Rittenhouse walking past police in the moments after the shootings, his rifle slung over his shoulder and his hands in the air. Officers let him go, and he turned himself in to police in his hometown of Antioch the next day.

The Chicago Tribune reported that the police video shows Rittenhouse sobbing and hyperventilating. Investigators reminded him of his right to remain silent. Rittenhouse, who once participated in programs for aspiring officers, replied, "I know Miranda," and said he wanted a lawyer.

Police left him in the interrogation room with his mother, Wendy Rittenhouse, who spent the next several hours scrolling through her phone. At one point she put her head in her hands and lamented about people posting derogatory remarks about both of them on Facebook.

His mother told him he needed to deactivate his social media accounts.

"'I have to get rid of social media?" he asked.

"Yep ... 'Cause they're going to harass you if they can find you anywhere," she said.

Rittenhouse said he couldn't give her access to some accounts because the passwords were stored in his phone, which police had taken. He later asked an officer if detectives could delete his accounts. The officer said he would look into it.

In the audible portions of the video, Rittenhouse didn't ask about the men he shot. He also didn't appear to understand the seriousness of the situation, asking an officer if he could go home and if he could get counseling to help him cope.

"I don't want to be one of those people that lives with PTSD the rest of their life," he said.

Last week, a judge ordered Rittenhouse to have no contact with known white supremacists  after he was seen drinking in a bar in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, and posing for a photo with two men who made hand gestures used by white supremacists. Prosecutors also alleged men at the tavern serenaded Rittenhouse with the anthem of the Proud Boys, a neo-fascist group.

The legal drinking age in Wisconsin is 21 but Rittenhouse could legally drink alcohol because he was with his mother.

Rittenhouse is due back in court in Kenosha on March 10.