Sharing Professor Healy’s Protest Story with Congress

Last week, as she was standing with fellow Portlanders peacefully exercising their constitutional rights to freedom of speech and assembly, Associate Professor of History and Department Chair Maureen Healy (known to colleagues and students as Mo) was shot in the head by a “less lethal” round fired by a law enforcement officer. Fortunately for Healy, her family, and the Lewis & Clark community, a medic nearby attended to her wounds and got her to a hospital for further care.

Though it is unclear whether the “rubber bullet” was fired by a Portland police officer or a federal law enforcement officer, the more important questions are: why are peaceful protestors being shot at in downtown Portland in 2020? Why are federal officers being used at all?

To convey the profound level of dismay at how Professor Healy and many other Portlanders have been treated, and to support a full inquiry into the use of federal forces in local matters, President Wiewel sent a letter last week to our congressional representatives: Senator Ron Wyden, Senator Jeff Merkley, and U.S. Representative Earl Blumenauer BA ’70, JD ’76. Appended to that letter was a statement by Professor Healy and a (graphic) photograph of her the night she was injured.

Please read the letter and statement in full. Feel free to share and send a follow-on message to our delegation in support of a full investigation.