Man Arrested & Charged For Shooting An Unarmed Black Man Who Complimented His White Girlfriend

Ian Cranston Arrested & Charged For Shooting Black Man Barry Washington Jr. Who Complimented His White Girlfriend

A white man identified as Ian Cranston has been arrested and charged in the killing of Barry Washington Jr. The shooting happened at a nightclub on Sept 19. in Bend, Oregon.

Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel explained that the Saturday events started with Washington approaching and complimenting a random woman who turned out to be Cranston’s girlfriend.

A video camera captured an ensuing scuffle involving several people, Hummel said, with shoving and punches thrown outside of the Capitol bar in Bend. “The punches had stopped and it was just some shouting. And then at that point, Cranston pulled a gun out of his waistband and shot,” according to the district attorney.

At the time of the shooting, Cranston held a concealed handgun license, Hummel said. However, Hummel added that there was “no justification” for Cranston’s use of the weapon.

 

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Washington, a Black man, was unarmed at the time of his death and was just 22 years old. According to OPB.org, police arrested Ian MacKenzie Cranston at his home in Redmond on Thursday evening, just soon after a Deschutes County grand jury returned an indictment on six charges: second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter, second-degree manslaughter, first-degree assault, and two counts of unlawful use of a deadly weapon, the news site notes.

At a press conference following Cranston’s arrest, Hummel said: “Our country has a disgraceful history of denigrating, prosecuting and lynching Black men for talking to white women. Over the last week, literally hundreds of people called and emailed me to remind me of this history,” Hummel said. “There’s a reckoning with race that needs to happen in Central Oregon, and it needs to happen now,” OPB quotes.

The Bend community was intially outraged when Cranston was first arrested and charged with a single charge of second-degree manslaughter. 24 hours later, he was released after posting bail. However, these new charges have put Cranston back behind bars. He is set for a court hearing on Oct. 5. He is currently placed in the Deschutes County Jail on a no-bail warrant.

Prosecutors did not seek a bias crime charge from the grand jury, Hummel as they are still investigating whether the shooting was racially motivated…