Sean Milligan said he was on a walk with his dog near a restaurant in Northwest Portland’s Slabtown district when he heard a man shout “I hate Asians!” at a group of Asian people who had just scurried inside.
The man followed that up by throwing patio chairs, dishes and drinking glasses at the windows of the restaurant, Mama Bird, Milligan said.
Moments later, the man spotted two young women of Asian descent, shouted “Don’t you walk away from me!” and violently shoved one of them into the other, he said.
That’s when Milligan intervened to give the women a chance to flee.
Milligan said he and a Mama Bird employee forced the man to the ground in front of New Seasons near Northwest 21st Avenue and Raleigh Street and held him there until police arrived last Monday evening, the end of a long Labor Day weekend.
“There were so many bystanders, some with their phones out,” said Milligan, 28. “Someone needed to take action before somebody seriously got hurt. It was kind of a split-second decision.”
The attack was the latest in a series of recent attacks against people of Asian descent or members of other targeted communities in Portland.
Among them, police earlier this week distributed photos and asked for the public’s help in identifying a man who spat at and assaulted multiple people of Asian descent on Aug. 21 in downtown Portland. In early August, an unknown individual vandalized the granite base of a lion statue at the gate of Old Town Chinatown and shattered a window at the nearby Lan Su Chinese Garden in an act the garden’s organizers believe was motivated by bias.
The man reportedly threw chairs, dishes and glassware at the large windows of Mama Bird, pictured here on Friday, Sept. 8, on the ground-floor of this multi-storied building. New Seasons is directly across the street. (Aimee Green/The Oregonian)
In the most serious recent case, 25-year-old Adrian Cummins is accused of attempted murder, assault and hate crimes for allegedly stabbing two Black teenagers on a Southeast Portland MAX train on Sept. 2.
Overall, these crimes are part of an upward trend. Reports of hate crimes and hate incidents to the state’s Bias Response Hotline have nearly tripled in the past three years.
In Monday’s case, the man appeared to be either high on drugs or in mental crisis, witnesses said.
Police identified him as Zion M. Cochran, 29. They cited Cochran on four counts of felony and misdemeanor criminal mischief for allegedly causing at least a few thousand dollars of property damage. Police said that included damage Cochran inflicted while jumping on a moving car and smashing the windshield of a parked car that evening.
Police didn’t cite him for hate-related charges or crimes of assault or harassment. Police spokesperson Sgt. Kevin Allen said officers tried to locate Cochran’s targets to get firsthand accounts from them, but they hadn’t lingered at the scene. Police are asking anyone with information -- including potential victims -- to contact Major Crimes Unit Sgt. Matthew Jacobsen at Matthew.Jacobsen@police.portlandoregon.gov.
Police said they summoned paramedics, who sedated Cochran and brought him to a local hospital to be evaluated. They also put a police officer hold on Cochran, who appeared to be a danger to himself or others.
It’s unclear what has happened to Cochran since because mental health records aren’t public.
But Cochran likely will be ordered to appear in court on the criminal charges in the next 30 days.
Milligan, the bystander who intervened, said he hopes the man gets help.
At 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds, Milligan said he knew he was in a position to do something. He remembers the fear he saw in the young women attacked. And he wants Portland to heal and be a place where everyone feels safe.
“I think safety in the city is a real issue,” Milligan said. “It’s scary for a lot of people but specifically people of color that are being targeted.”
-- Aimee Green; agreen@oregonian.com; @o_aimee
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