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Gresham police department

Good morning, Portland! Have you gotten your vaccine yet?

Here are the headlines.

• Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt announced yesterday that he's hiring an outside prosecutor to review the death investigation of Israel Berry, who was killed by a Gresham police officer last year. Schmidt told the Mercury that because his office often works with police officers when prosecuting other cases, it makes sense to bring in a lawyer with fewer ties to police to work on this case.

• While Oregon still isn't in a great spot regarding our COVID-19 spike, there is good news: The country as a whole is seeing cases drop significantly, and hospitalizations are going down even in the worst-hit places.

• The wave of anti-Asian hate in the United States continues:

Two Asian American women were stabbed by a stranger while waiting at a San Francisco bus stop. It's the latest in a string of violent attacks on Asian Americans across the US.https://t.co/8sxo2vW3lQ

— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) May 5, 2021

The Moda Center will soon be empty no more. Abbie parr / Getty images

Here's your daily roundup of all the latest local and national news. (Like our coverage? Please consider making a recurring contribution to the Mercury to keep it comin'!)

In local news:

• A string of fires lit in Portland's Piedmont neighborhood appear to be politically motivated acts of arson, leaving neighbors feeling nervous. Several of the targeted homes displayed lawn signs with progressive and anti-racist messages.

• The Oregon Senate passed a bill today that will require gun owners to use safe storage techniques, and ban guns from the Oregon Capitol. The bill now goes to Gov. Kate Brown to be signed into law. The law is intended to make it harder for kids to access their parents' firearms and use them, either accidentally or on purpose.

• Good news for all you Blazer fans: The Moda Center is allowing fans again starting this weekend! Attendance will be limited to 10 percent capacity to start, but a few lucky fans will get to see the Blazers play the Lakers this Friday. This makes the Blazers the last team in the NBA to allow fans at games following the pandemic. The only time I went to a Blazers game I had an anxiety attack, but I'm genuinely happy for all you Portland sports fans!

DA Mike Schmidt at a 2020 press conference in Portland City Hall. Nathan Howard / Getty Images

Berry, 49, was killed by Gresham police officer James Doyle on May 31 in Southeast Portland. Almost a year after his death, the details surrounding the incident remain hazy. What we do know: Doyle and other Gresham officers were assisting Portland Police Bureau (PPB) officers that Sunday evening due to PPB's preoccupation with racial justice protests occurring at the same time. Around 9:30 pm, Doyle and several Portland officers responded to a 911 call of a disturbance near SE Powell and 122 Ave.

At the scene, they discovered Berry driving up and down the street, honking his car horn. According to witnesses, police used their vehicles to block the street, preventing Berry's driving. Not long after, officers pointed their weapons at Berry in his car, and Doyle pulled the trigger. Berry was pronounced dead at the scene. It's still unknown if Berry had a weapon on him at the time, or what other information prompted Doyle to fire. Doyle has been on paid administrative leave since the shooting, and Multnomah County has yet to convene a grand jury to determine whether Doyle was within his legal rights to use force against Berry.

Schmidt has appointed local criminal defense attorney Samuel Kauffman to serve as a "co-lead prosecutor" in collaboration with Multnomah County prosecutors in reviewing Berry's death investigation and presenting the case to a grand jury within the next month.

In an interview with the Mercury, Schmidt said that he was briefed on the Doyle case shortly after entering the DA's office in August 2020.

The remains of Alletta Brenner's "Black Lives Matter" sign after being used to ignite a fire outside her home. Alletta Brenner

"I was absolutely confused by what was happening," said Brenner, who lives in Northeast Portland's Piedmont neighborhood with her partner and young children, in an interview with the Mercury. "And then I was stunned."

She learned what had occurred quickly: According to the firefighters, it appeared that someone had pulled her "Black Lives Matter" yard sign out of her lawn, leaned it up against a wooden gate connected to her home, and set it on fire. It just so happened that a fire truck was responding to another call in the neighborhood around that time, and when its driver saw her gate burning, they pulled over to extinguish the flame.

Later that morning, Brenner discovered she wasn't the only one on her block who'd been targeted. At least two of her neighbors shared on the app Nextdoor that they'd also had fires set on their property before sunrise. She saw clear similarities between the incidents. One of her neighbors' fires was lit by using another yard sign reading "We believe" followed by a list of several statements, including "Black Lives Matter." That fire was set right next to another yard sign reading "Black Lives Matter." The other house, which saw its garbage can set ablaze using aerosol cans, had a "PDX Love Over Hate" sign in its yard, although it wasn't used in the fire. At least one of the neighbors who experienced arson was Black. (They declined to speak with the Mercury for this story.) All fires were extinguished before seriously damaging any property.

To Brenner and her other neighbors, this seemed like a targeted attack on homes with progressive political and anti-racist signs.