RAPPER MIKEY VEGAZ was easy to spot when a couple of Portland cops showed up at the Blue Monk on SE Belmont late on Saturday, March 1. He was on stage, down in the bar’s basement, more than halfway through his set.
Gang officers had noticed Vegaz (real name Eddie Bynum Jr.) on the bill earlier that day. They put a call over to the police bureau’s bar-and-nightclub detail. And those officers, a fire inspector in tow, had come down to make sure Vegaz left.
“What is it you’re looking to do?” Bryce Trost, the show’s promoter, says he asked one of the cops. He says he got the following answer: “I want to get him and his affiliates out of here.”
They got their wish. And then some.
The cops’ visit, a display of might in and of itself, gave the fire inspector a chance to complain about overcrowding—touching off a slow-building show of force by cops that soured the night so badly the show
was suspended.
The fallout—coming just months after a Vice article accused the city’s police bureau of waging war on Portland’s hiphop scene, and by proxy, the city’s African American community—was felt immediately. Illmaculate, the last on the bill, refused to take the stage.
“I will not perform in this city as long as the blatant targeting of black culture and minorities congregating is acceptable common practice,” the rapper tweeted that night.
Days later, the fallout was still being felt— even in city hall.
On Tuesday, March 4, just before Illmaculate (real name Gregory Poe) went face-to-face with a police spokesman on OPB’s Think Out Loud, the city’s Independent Police Review (IPR) Division announced a “review of the Portland Police Bureau’s policies and procedures that relate to its interactions with
hiphop music events and venues.”
Mayor Charlie Hales’ office followed with a statement of its own, as reported by the Skanner, saying this issue was already on Hales’ radar and will remain there.
“Mayor Hales supports a review of police procedures in this area,” his office said.
The show in the Blue Monk’s basement started off calmly by all accounts. The place was packed and full of media. Luck-One (Hanif Collins), the second artist on the bill, was back for a show after moving to New York—and Vegaz, an up-and-coming
act, was opening.
Trost said the crowd was enjoying itself. On OPB on Tuesday, Illmaculate spoke of the evening’s “good vibes” and how it was “actually a very good night for Portland hiphop.”
Mercury correspondent Ryan Feigh said he didn’t even realize cops had shown up until Luck-One’s set was under way. Tension was at a minimum. Feigh and others also said the basement didn’t feel overly crowded or unsafe—until the cops showed up.
“I then noticed there were four armed police officers surrounding the bar, the merchandise table, and the entrance to the bottom of the stairs,” Feigh wrote in an account first posted on Blogtown, “glaring at the crowd like statues with weapons.”
Police reports released to media outlets on Monday, March 3, made it seem like cops had dropped by for a routine visit—and then called in gang officers once they found the place overcrowded, worried about the reaction if they shut it down or tried moving people out. In all, at least 14 cops were on scene.
But police spokesman Sergeant Pete Simpson, in an interview with the Mercury, clarified that wasn’t quite the case: The first officers showed up because gang officers had called them.
And those gang officers had issued their “heads up” because of Vegaz—whom they later identified as a potential target of a December 2013 shooting outside a recording studio (Simpson says Vegaz was inside the studio when the shots were fired).
“When PPB hears of events that might attract a gang element,” Simpson told the Mercury, “officers pay attention.”
“I’m not a gang member,” Vegaz told the Oregonian. “Do I have ties to gangs because I was born and raised in Northeast Portland? Are they saying because I’m black I have gang ties?”
Vegaz left as soon as his set was over; Trost refused to pull him out sooner. The cops stayed anyway.
Trost and Blue Monk owner Sheri Dietrich say officers stopped letting people back into the basement, citing capacity. (Though the basement venue was partially full, official capacity only allows for 85 people, Dietrich confirms.)
Simpson says cops never actually closed the bar, although they did think about it seriously. They called backup, he says, after some of the people outside confronted them. No doubt, many were angry. Jackets left by smokers had to be hunted down. Credit cards held for bar tabs had to be fetched.
“Overall I’m frustrated, but not surprised,” Feigh wrote on Blogtown. “I’ve witnessed these tactics far too many times. The dissonance between the police department and a peaceful musical community is disheartening and depressing.”
Dietrich understands that maybe the cops were worried Vegaz could have been targeted again. But she still wonders why cops didn’t call her first. The show had been booked for weeks. Illmaculate, appearing along with Simpson on OPB, also agreed that a call—given how often cops appear unannounced at local hiphop shows—could have gone a long way.
“It would be a proactive step to actually building a relationship and working with community,” Illmaculate said, “rather than alienating themselves from this community they say they want to serve.”
This is now the second article Mr. Theriault has written that quotes from an Oregonian article in which Mikey Vegaz (Eddie Bynum Jr.) asks if he is assumed to have gang ties simply because he’s black and because of where he was born and raised (NE Portland). And it’s the second time that Mr. Theriault has chosen not to include the very next line (which is quite a pertinent one) from that original article, in which Vegaz then admits that he does indeed know gang members.
From above: “I’m not a gang member,” Vegaz told the Oregonian. “Do I have ties to gangs because I was born and raised in Northeast Portland? Are they saying because I’m black I have gang ties?”
And now the omitted line: “I grew up in Northeast, so I can’t say I don’t know gang members.”
Without the inclusion of that last line, us readers are left thinking that he actually doesn’t have any gang ties, and that he really does have grounds to be upset about being lumped into such a category, perhaps solely because of his skin color.
Add his admission to having such ties to the fact that he was present when a recording studio was shot up a couple of months ago, and I think we can understand why the police might have an interest in keeping tabs on the guy.
Also, if the individual noted in the following link regarding money laundering for gang members is as related to Mikey Vegaz (Eddie Bynum Jr.) as logic would imply, then this would be yet another legitimate reason the cops tend to like to keep an eye on young Eddie.
http://www.fbi.gov/portland/press-releases…
This isn’t the “targeting of black culture” and/or hip-hop shows; it’s the targeting of a single individual. I mean, the cops admit as much, as is noted in the first few paragraphs of this article.
It’s a good bet that none of this would’ve happened if Illmaculate and Luck-One did the show on their own, without including Vegaz (or any other gang affiliate) on the bill.
I grew up in NE. I knew gang members. Do I have “gang affiliations” too?
The original line (as h.i.t. points out) is: “”I’m not a gang member,” Vegaz said. “Do I have ties to gangs because I was born and raised in Northeast Portland? Are they saying because I’m black I have gang ties? I grew up in Northeast, so I can’t say I don’t know gang members. If they were worried about me being in a gang, why would they not support me doing something positive?””
And he makes an EXCELLENT point! If the Portland PD “Gang Unit” is meant to combat gangs… why would they support and aggressive show of force that further exacerbates the problem?
It truly is sad how ‘white America’ seems entirely incapable of realizing that treating others (women, skin-toned based minorities, immigrants, gays, etc.) as ‘others’ does NOT help anyone. In this case the PPD assumed Vegaz guilty until proven innocent, and if they did NOT assume that then their actions are just flat-out racist. Period. We don’t treat all white, lone-wolf males as terrorists, despite the evidence showing they are the most likely group to commit acts of terrorism, why do we not extend the same courtesy to Blacks?
@ AMA: Based on that alone? No, of course not. But there appears to be more to the story in Mr. Bynum Jr.’s case.
@mtngoatz: “If the Portland PD “Gang Unit” is meant to combat gangs… why would they support and aggressive show of force that further exacerbates the problem?”
I’m sure (more of) their reasons will be made public once the investigation is completed; but from what we know now, it sounds like the cops got wind of his (Vegaz’s) performance, went to check it out (perhaps even with the intent to somehow shut it down if they could), saw that the place was overcrowded and went about trying to right the situation (perhaps happy to have stumbled upon this new ‘excuse’ for doing what they might’ve been intending to do all along). Meanwhile, they were getting verbal threats from the crowd and stage and were losing radio contact when down in the basement, so they called for backup.
I’m not saying that there aren’t corrupt, racist cops. What I’m saying is that I find it extremely hard to believe that MOST of them are, and to such a degree that virtually the entire force is involved in some sort of conspiracy against black people and their “culture”, as if there’s an unwritten directive to give non-whites more shit than whites doing the same exact thing.
And I agree with most everything you wrote in your last paragraph, save for the “PPD assumed Vegaz guilty until proven innocent” thing in the middle — that is yet to be determined — we’re not privy to all of the information that the cops are.
@human_in_training: I’m not saying that there aren’t corrupt, racist cops. What I’m saying is that I find it extremely hard to believe that MOST of them are, and to such a degree that virtually the entire force is involved in some sort of conspiracy against black people and their “culture”, as if there’s an unwritten directive to give non-whites more shit than whites doing the same exact thing.
Have we already forgotten Cointelpro? Black history month may have been last month, but let us not forget the systematic abuses of the recent past. I’m not saying it’s happening but it MIGHT be and needs to be looked into.
Anyone who has a hard time believing that most cops are racist is (a) white, (b) has never tangled with the cops, (c) both. Seriously, that shit is impossible to not notice unless you are white and have never examined the mountain of privilege your vantage point is supported by.
“I want to get him and his affiliates out of here.”
Why?! Mikey is a good dude trying to elevate himself through music. Take that away from him and what does he have left? If he worked at burger king would the police barge in half way through his shift? This is how he eats, how he feeds his family. Again I ask, take that away and what options is he left with?
… “sins of the father …” @human in training ( in serious need thereof ) do you delight in being disgusting always, siding with the bullshit cops fabricate, suggesting that knowing gang members is same as having gang ties? “I grew up in Northeast, so I can’t say I don’t know gang members.” To me “gang ties” should be involvement or relationship, maybe, such as living under same roof, which may have been the case based on link you provided: http://www.fbi.gov/portland/press-releases… Nonetheless, your whining and allusions of plagiarism make you look ridiculous, not thoughtful. For those with time to waste on them, your remark(s): “This is now the second article Mr. Theriault has written that quotes from an Oregonian article in which Mikey Vegaz (Eddie Bynum Jr.) asks if he is assumed to have gang ties simply because he’s black and because of where he was born and raised (NE Portland). And it’s the second time that Mr. Theriault has chosen not to include the very next line (which is quite a pertinent one) from that original article, in which Vegaz then admits that he does indeed know gang members.
From above: “I’m not a gang member,” Vegaz told the Oregonian. “Do I have ties to gangs because I was born and raised in Northeast Portland? Are they saying because I’m black I have gang ties?”
And now the omitted line: “I grew up in Northeast, so I can’t say I don’t know gang members.”
Without the inclusion of that last line, us readers are left thinking that he actually doesn’t have any gang ties, and that he really does have grounds to be upset about being lumped into such a category, perhaps solely because of his skin color.
Add his admission to having such ties to the fact that he was present when a recording studio was shot up a couple of months ago, and I think we can understand why the police might have an interest in keeping tabs on the guy.
Also, if the individual noted in the following link regarding money laundering for gang members is as related to Mikey Vegaz (Eddie Bynum Jr.) as logic would imply, then this would be yet another legitimate reason the cops tend to like to keep an eye on young Eddie.
http://www.fbi.gov/portland/press-releases… report 8 likes, 11 dislikes like dislike
Posted by human in training on 03/05/2014 at 3:43 PM
wow shift shellshock and corin nemec are interesting, now I just aw two one direction videos ad I stopped to log in to tell you that Portland, and I repped neil lomax and tony dorsett earlier for no real reason and also, okay i’ll tell you..jewish pajam person..i saw that, and then one hour photo and a landing strip tattoo on that one dude plus the lil blonde also looks like that indian on the mudvayne cover..unless burt mcrackens used used it too?
That link that has been posted CLEARLY describes Eddie Bynum Sr. aka Fast Eddie, NOT Eddie Bynum Jr. aka Mikey Vegaz!