Benjamin Jeffrey Smith Wiki – Biography
Benjamin Jeffrey Smith, a self-described anti-social machinist with a trail of disturbing social media posts, was named the Portland, Oregon, man under suspicion in the mass shooting of five people that left a Black Lives Matter protester dead.
Smith has not been named the suspect by authorities; he was named by OregonLive, which reported that witnesses had identified him as the shooter. A “furry” community describes him as a local “furry” who goes by Polybun. The newspaper reported that he is also known as Ben Smith and was also shot, leaving him critically wounded. Police have released few details of what they described as a chaotic scene.
Age
He is 43 years old.
Incident Details
June Knightly has been identified as the Black Lives Matter protester who was shot and killed in Portland, Oregon, by the man police described only as an “armed homeowner.”
OregonLive first identified Knightly as the victim in the protest shooting. His nickname was T-Rex.
Portland Police wrote in a press release: “A preliminary investigation into the February 19, 2022 shooting near the intersection of Northeast 55th Avenue and Northeast Hassalo Street indicates this incident began with a confrontation between an armed property owner and protesters. armed”. They said six people were shot; of them, only Knightly died. Smith is among the six. According to Oregon Live, three of those shots are in critical condition.
According to OregonLive, the gunman who lived “nearby fired into the crowd and one of the protesters shot the man who opened fire.” CNN reported that the protest was staged in Portland’s Normandale Park on Saturday night, February 19, 2022, and was over the police shooting of Amir Locke in Minneapolis, without a warrant.
Investigation
Witnesses to the Saturday shooting said people attempted to deescalate the situation when Smith pulled out a handgun and fired into the crowd, killing June Knightly, 60, and injuring four others. Witnesses said a protester returned fire, hitting Smith, who is in critical condition according to The Oregonian/OregonLive.
Knightly became involved with the protest movement after a George Floyd march passed by her home in 2020. Since then, she had attended many demonstrations and often worked to protect protesters from traffic and other interference, a job she was also doing on Saturday when she was killed.
Christenson, who said she and her neighbours are shocked but not surprised by what happened, said Portland Police Bureau detectives and special agents with the FBI came to her apartment just after midnight early Sunday morning to ask her about Smith, including whether or not he owned any firearms.
Late Monday night, Portland police officers returned to the apartment with a search warrant looking for guns and computers, Christenson said.
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She didn’t know how many guns Smith owned but said he held everything from shotguns to rifles and handguns and that Smith sometimes repaired weapons for other people.
“He talked about wanting to go shoot commies and Antifa all the friggin time,” Christenson said. “He was just a sad angry dude…he talked about wanting to do this for a while. He was angry at the mask mandates, he was angry at the damned liberals.”
Smith’s brother, Arthur Killion, said Smith had had issues with protesters in the neighborhood but otherwise seemed fine when they spoke a week ago. Killion, who learned about the shooting and his brother’s involvement when a reporter contacted him, said he hasn’t been able to find out any more details.
“I’ve called every hospital there and all of them say he’s not a patient,” Killion said. “I’ve called both the detectives that were listed on one of the articles I read and neither of them would answer their phone. I called the detective branch itself and got a recorded message and that was it. Your police department in Portland sucks.”
In a press release Sunday afternoon, the Portland Police Bureau described the incident as very complicated. It said, “investigators are trying to put this puzzle together without having all the pieces.” The bureau asked anyone with information to contact detectives.
