Hundreds of people attended vigils to honor Barry Washington, Jr. Sept. 22 and 23 in Bend, just days after police say he was shot and killed by Ian Cranston outside of The Capitol, a Bend nightclub, Sept. 19. Washington’s family and friends also organized a vigil at Benicia Park in Benicia, California, close to where Washington grew up. The shooting ignited a conversation about enduring racism in Central Oregon and the chasm of experience between white residents and people of color. Cops arrested Cranston on second-degree manslaughter charges. He posted bail and was released shortly after the shooting.
Wednesday’s vigil invited people to share their experiences in Central Oregon, with speakers recounting racism they’ve encountered in the community. A Black woman shared that she was recently run off the road in Bend. A teenage girl said she was called the ‘N-word’ at the age of five. And a local activist remembered Deshaun Adderley, who committed suicide in 2015 after being bullied at Summit High School. The Source Weekly, along with KPOV, was among the only local media outlets to cover Adderley’s death.
“Deshaun Adderley committed suicide over the bullying he was receiving in school. When he asked his school for help, he received none. When he asked his councilors for help, he received none. This is the life for Black people in Bend, Oregon,” Riccardo Waites, founder and CEO of Central Oregon Black Leaders Assembly, told Wednesday’s vigil attendees.
Initial reporting suggested that Cranston shot Washington after Washington approached his fiancé, Allie Butler, first at the bar and later outside. Deschutes District Attorney John Hummel said Washington didn’t act inappropriately while interacting with Butler, but Cranston reacted aggressively, and a fight broke out. Hummel said Cranston shot Washington as he was arguing with one of Cranston’s friends.
Washington’s family, however, claims that the same men harassed Washington shortly after he moved to Bend. They say the shooting could be premeditated—which could raise charges from manslaughter to murder—and that Cranston used slurs that could turn the shooting into a hate crime.
“Basically, he told him that they can do to him whatever they wanted to do and kept calling him the ‘N’ word,” Valencia Roberson, Washington’s aunt, told NBC Bay Area.
Hummel previously said that he’s not ruled out the possibility that this is a hate crime.
“The question I have to decide is whether Cranston’s decision to shoot was motivated in part by [Washington’s] race,” Hummel told OPB. “At the end of the day, it comes down to what was his motivation at the instant that he committed the crime.”
Thursday’s vigil focused on Washington’s life, with friends and roommates sharing what he was like. Friends said he was a “nerd” who loved Pokémon, videogames and chess. He idolized Malcolm X. He wasn’t confrontational but also wasn’t docile when confronted, they said.
“He’s a loving person, he only cares about having fun when he steps out; that’s his only goal when he steps out of the house,” said Max Petersen, Washington’s friend and roommate, during Thursday’s vigil. “I told him it would be a safe environment up here. But that was obviously a lie that I told him. I had been given a different impression from the community up here. I had better faith up here.”
Petersen had known Washington since he was 11 years old and invited him to come live with him in Bend. Petersen said he was shocked after Washington was first harassed shortly after moving to Bend.
“I told him for a week, ‘I’m sorry, I told you it’d be good up here and I’m sorry I can’t believe this shit happened to you; I’ve been up here for four and a half years, and nobody popped off like that,” Petersen told the Source.
Petersen said he doesn’t know if the people that harassed Washington were there the night he was killed, but like the family, he believes the killing was racially motivated and hopes the charges can be raised to murder.
“We absolutely expect a murder charge,” Petersen said. “I think he was targeted. I think what 99% of the people walking downtown Bend look like… if they would have got into a fight, trying to push up on some dude’s female because they thought she was cute or whatever, and they tried to compliment her, I promise you they wouldn’t have died that night.”
Washington’s family set up a GoFundMe campaign to pay for legal fees in the case. As of Monday it had raised $33,376 of a $40,000 goal.
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I am so sick of this garbage, I am so sick of the race card, I am so sick of just because a black man gets involved in the shooting it’s because of his skin color, this had nothing to do with the man’s skin color this has everything to do with Washington who just happens to be black coming on to another man’s girlfriend twice in one evening and being disrespectful to another man.
Cranston is an idiot and should’ve never pulled a gun out and shot Washington, but men do stupid things when they’re drinking
This is why we have race division because of articles like this who are mourning something that’s not there…..racism.
This tragedy had everything to do with behavior, drinking, and a jealous man who didn’t like the fact another man was coming onto his woman a couple times when he knew she was with another man, give me a break!!!
what snacks, is BLM gonna come to Bend and burn it down, scream defund the police then we can have The morons antifa show up also. Stop pushing the race card!!!
Didn’t we just have a shooting just recently between two white men, why isn’t there any morning or Vigil for the man that got shot? Oh because there wasn’t a black man involved?, I get it!!! if two people of the same color are involved in a shooting, then it’s not racism? is that what I am getting here?
As a man there’s certain things you don’t do, you don’t flirt or come on to another man’s woman two times in the same night or more and not expect an ugly outcome regardless of your skin color!!
In this incident, they were both stupid and it was a tragedy, two lives are lost here!!
One is dead, and one is going to prison for a long time or is that not enough!! or do we need to lynch the man and burn him at the stake who shot the black man?
Just remember two MEN lost their lives, I don’t care if your red, yellow, black, white or brown.
Do you know how many black on black murders are in Chicago and nobody ever mourns the victims there and there’s many Innocent children Are killed by drive-by shootings in black neighborhoods?
Nobody’s having a candle vigil for them and there’s many of them every day this happens to in black communities, but it’s the white peoples fault right?
Bunch of hypocrites!!! Put the blame where the blame actually is and not where the liberal narrative wants it!!!
Thank you for this article. Bend needs to do better and I believe it is up to our white community members to bare the burden of the work to make Bend safe for the BIPOC community members. We should welcome diversity and inclusion of all races in our community. Oregon has a very racist history and we need to change this mindset. I do think this is a racially motivated crime and I do hope the both Ian Cranston and his girlfriend Alli Butler and any of their other friends who participated are tried and convicted. It does appear from the video that she and Ian and friends were taunting him and instigating a reaction from him through recording him and then shot him. If I had a camera in my face, I would push it away too. He needs to be convicted and as a community we need to set an example that we don’t tolerate this racism and use of deadly force in Bend. I hope everyone will show up on Tuesday morning at 9:00am at the courthouse and show your support for Barry Washington, his family and friends and our BIPOC community to show solidarity. My thoughts and prayers are with Barry and his family. I can’t imagine loosing a child and especially in this way. I am so sorry for your loss.
I guess fmarcos missed the part where they were calling Barry the N word before he was shot to death. Or the part where he was harassed, racially, when he first moved to Bend. Why so defensive about the reality that this was racially motivated fmarcos? guilty conscience?
No matter how you slice it, Barry was murdered.
he was murdered, Cranston shot him, I’m not excusing him if he use the N-word, but how many times have I heard people white bashing? I’m completely sick of it, Washington had no business coming onto the man’s woman multiple times, he obviously didn’t know what NO meant,
I’m not condoning this, but to make it a racist deal is wrong everybody’s playing victim because of their skin color I’m sick of it, i’m sick of all white people being thrown into one basket!!! We’re all being compared to a bunch of hillbillies that come out of the woods every 10 and 15 years and cause chaos!!
I’m sick of this BS of the white privileged narrative, inclusion, skin color Preference, everything’s the white man’s fault, Nobody today has owned a slave or been a slave!!
People are judged by their character not their skin color, Had Washington not came on to the man’s woman multiple times and took NO for an answer, then maybe he’d be alive today!!! Black people call each other the N-word all the time, but that’s OK it’s appropriate LOL !! Like white bashings appropriate, get off your politically correct, race theory liberal BS!! It is what it is, 2 men got in a fight, but one numbskull decided to pull a gun out this is tragic not racist!!
Forgot, on the video, women’s screaming that Washington hit her, where is the outrage on that?
STFU FMARCOS! You sound racist asf saying some shyt like that. First of fucking all wtf does BLM have to do with this? Was there police brutality involved? You sound dumb asf. And stop blaming the whole movement just because a few bad apples took advantage of it. You sound BITTER. White on white crime is more common than you think and yes this DOES have something to do with race because if it didn’t they wouldn’t have harassed Barry or call him the N word. Ask your own race of white people or why the white victims family didn’t have a vigil it’s not black peoples job to do ANYTHING for they ass. Y’all do NOTHING for them. And stfu speaking on Chicago unless your stupid ass lives there you have no idea what people are doing there with your uneducated ass they DO hold vigils there for lives lost and there are movements and programs in Chicago to help. Shut your stupid racist ass up bitch!
And who the hell is white bashing??? The only white people that are being bashed are the racist ones so look at you a hit dog hollering. White bashing is in no way shape or form the same as racism. Stop trying to compare apples to oranges Dumbass. You want to be oppressed so badly. Men flirt with women all the time thats not excuse to take ANYONES life so stfu you sound delusional asf to even think thats okay. He did not harm the ugly woman nor did he hit her thats why theres no outrage because witnesses already confirmed it wasnt true you ever heard of white woman tears??? Dummy. Do some research before coming on here yapping your mouth exposing your true racist self and not expect no one to see it. Then you go on a whole unrelated rampage like a child and have the audacity to say black people call eachother the N word like it excuses the likes of nonblack people like YOU to say it. You cant even spell it out so you are HIGHLY aware of nonblacks cant say it you just want a excuse to be ignorant. And slavery has nothing to do with what we are talking about if you choose to ignore racism (which you are because you have shown you are racist in itself) so you can live in your happy little bubble then that sounds like a YOU problem. Its tragic and racist and nobody cares about your little hurt feelings about it the evidence is there and the witnesses are speaking up!!! CRY ABOUT IT!!!!
FMARCOS could not have possibly proved more what a hardcore racist you are with that pathetic crying rant. Go away poor wittle white boy. People like you ARE getting cancelled. You’re not intelligent enough for modern society. Your slack jawed, backwoods stereotyping is sickening to everyone other than you and your KLAN. Even the DA said there were no inappropriate actions (two, Mr. multiple times), between the victim and the murderers girlfriend. But here you are making things up. You’re either some kind of grand wizard wannabe, or a friend of the murderer. Everyone sees right through your fake, racist diatribe. People like you are a dying breed and it won’t be long before you have to take your hate back into hiding. Soon enough you’ll all be gone altogether. I say good riddance!
Wow years and years of the same harsh treatment goes back hundreds of years a man can’t be a man a man can’t compliment a man can’t walk talk drive eat sleep be on their own property without being harassed tortured or murdered what’s wrong with people today? Speaking to another man’s wife is a death sentence now complimenting somebody is grounds for execution, really and for Captain ignorant and everyone else to say it’s about black lives matter yes it is it’s about life it’s about being able to live free without the trespass of a bullet it’s about being able to enjoy life just as everyone else. But hey if we shine your shoes clean your house wash your cars cut your grass say yes sir yes master and anything else it’s okay but as soon as we say anything that you don’t want us to say it becomes a problem. And to the DA’s the sheriff’s department the police department the state if you don’t stop if you continue to push you going to bring about something that you don’t want people like you are dangerous people people who hate or dangerous and it doesn’t matter what color you are what nationality you are you’re dangerous and the first thing someone will say is go back to your country last I checked Europeans were not the first settlers of this continent much less the country. Everybody talks about everything but what is relevant this country was built on racism. Even your quote on quote founding fathers were racist slave owners that is until they saw a beautiful woman of color. Then everything was okay for the first 20 minutes of the encounter after that get back to the dishes. It’s even a part of the Constitution of the United States that people don’t even realize it whenever you get a warrant out for yourself and you go to another state that is the exact same law that says that that state has to bring you back it’s the exact same law that says that in 1793 what’s the fugitive slave act it’s the same law that’s on the books today but people don’t realize that. And when you get a person in any office whether it’s Trump or gets or Cruise or the governor of Florida or the governor of any state mayor senators Representatives which is both houses of Congress the Senate and the representatives are one body as far as Congress goes only separated upper and lower. Everybody has an opinion but black people opinion doesn’t count if that had been a black man who shot a white woman he would have been charged with first degree intentional murder and been looking at the death sentence or natural life until we start treating everybody as an equal it’s going to be a problem and the problem is about to get worse.
Btw all the hate that you give you going to get it back you may not be willing to accept it but is going to be placed at your doorstep it’s bad it’s sad and it’s crazy how people treat other people when you close your eyes and it is pitch Black you don’t know who is black white you don’t know who is a Latino you do not know who is Asian. That’s the old story goes in the south there was a man who hated everyone but white he treated everyone badly except for his white friends and counterparts one day walking down the street with his son he grabs his chest he kills over his son screams for help a man came running up what’s wrong my father he’s dying help him please the man helped the father brought him back to life stabilized him the ambulance got there he was put on a stretcher put into the ambulance but before he got in the ambulance he said who saved me his son pointed to the man standing next to the ambulance he looked at him and said you should have let me die son looked at him and said why he said because of black man touched me. Hate is learned it is passed down generation to generation it’s always been there and I’ll always be here it is up to us to teach each other compassion love forgiveness and understanding not hate hate destroys hate controls Kate is the enemy of all good men and women.
Actually this young man’s tragic death was covered locally by among others, KTVZ 21, multiple stories to include this one –
“Bend father hopes son’s story will prevent bullying, suicide” – https://ktvz.com/news/2017/12/20/bend-father-hopes-sons-story-will-prevent-bullying-suicide/
And Central Oregon Daily did likewise – https://centraloregondaily.com/family-files-lawsuit-two-years-after-suicide-of-summit-high-freshman/
And where John Hummel has offered Mr. Washington was harassed early on by the very people involved in his death, Mr. Petersen’s comment offers that simply may not be the case. “Petersen said he doesn’t know if the people that harassed Washington were there the night he was killed, but like the family, he believes the killing was racially motivated and hopes the charges can be raised to murder.”
That comment supporting Riccardo Waites’ observation regarding what life is like here in Bend/Central Oregon for black people, in specific.
The federal hate crime laws have yet to be explored in the local media which continues to refer to them. The applicable law is
(a)In General.—
(1)Offenses involving actual or perceived race, color, religion, or national origin.—Whoever, whether or not acting under color of law, willfully causes bodily injury to any person or, through the use of fire, a firearm, a dangerous weapon, or an explosive or incendiary device, attempts to cause bodily injury to any person, because of the actual or perceived race, color, religion, or national origin of any person—
(A)shall be imprisoned not more than 10 years, fined in accordance with this title, or both; and
(B)shall be imprisoned for any term of years or for life, fined in accordance with this title, or both, if—
(i)death results from the offense; or
(ii)the offense includes kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill.
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/249
Mr. Waites at COBLA has a direct line to FBI SAC Portland and is exploring – for the purpose of information that is accurate – this possible investigation should the FBI find grounds to pursue such charging.
This was racism!!! And for the ones who dont believe it is, your part of the problem!!!! If this were a black man who killed a white man, would he be out of jail???? They called him racial slurs!!! Laughed at him after he was killed. You people are sad when you try to over look the racism part of things. So its ok for him to be killed because he allegedly flirted with a white woman. Where in the rule book does it say if you flirt with someones mate you deserve to die. Only when it comes to racism, idiots!!!!!!!! This angers me because I have black sons. So stop saying its not about racism if you dont know how real racism is out here.
No FMARCOS DIDNT MISS THAT PART OF THE NWORD. WHEN YOU KILL A MAN BECAUSE OF WORD SAID TO HIS GIRL….AM SURE IT WAS RACIST ESPECIALLY IF THE WHOLE BAR DID NOTHING. JUST SHOW HOW ASS BACKWARD SOME PEOPLE ARE. AND THEY SAY BLACK PEOPLE ARE VOILENT PLEASE. ALL THAT WAS WAS INSECURITY WEAKNESS. FMARCOS YOU WOULD PLAY DOWN THIS SENERIO. You wrote “As a man theres certain things you dont do, you dont flirt or come on to another mans woman two times in the same night or more and not expect an ugly outcome regardless of your skin color!!”
Your so wise beyond belief. Man the saying is true, you really can’t fix stupid. Since I said that please don’t shoot a black man because of it. That guy should of man the fuck up if that was the case. Not pussy around shooting a unarm man.
Wasn’t quick to say race until the video came out.. She claimed he hit her in the face and that was the reason he was shot… Her reaction never suggested it happened… Definitely racially motivated even if it’s the lie to justify a cowardly act.
This is very much so racist and the fact that he was able to shoot this man and nothing was really done he got a slap on the wrist and later all he was picked up at his home and finally charged with murder charges when clearly it was murder and the fact they had a video of the girlfriend and him calling him everything but a child of God but white people the racist ones are still trying to justify why the victim is not the victim and the crazy killer is somehow the victim in all this racist people are a joke to me
If he indeed did hit her in the face, why was there no indication of that until AFTER he lie dying on the ground? She stated it as an afterthought in a pathetic attempt to cover her and her boyfriend’s lying murderous asses.
And editing in that Dr. Dre song immediately after the murder along with the laughing and jeering displayed a stunningly callous lack of humanity or regard for human life.
Frankly, it looks like a set up from the onset. Taunt and trigger him into behaving aggressively and then shoot him and claim self-defense.
“he just complimented his gf bro” as he punches him and the girl in the face… He literally has a black eye in his mugshot.
Looks like Barry assaulted the wrong people and had justice swiftly served upon him. Barry was a racist, disrespectful POS and Cranston shouldn’t spend another second behind bars. It’s clear from the video what happened.
I hope it is not considered too distracting and insensitive to bring up the issue of America’s century old gun culture and the role it has played in racism, genocide, and murder. Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz brilliantly documents this intersection in her “Loaded: A Disarming History of the Second Amendment.” For now, we in Bend are unable to bring about gun regulation stricter than what State law permits. It is ridiculously easy to get a concealed weapon permit. A good start would be individual businesses acting to ban entry of people carrying weapons. Justice for Barry.