A Black security guard said it’s time for him to exit Portland, Oregon, stage left after experiencing repeated instances of racial violence since he moved to the city last year. The latest incident caused severe injuries to his chest and hand.
Marcus Evans was the victim of a pit bull attack, which he says was ordered by its white owner on Mother’s Day.
Zachary Hay, 29, pleaded not guilty to charges of assault and bias after Evans says he called him the N-word before siccing his dog on him on Mother’s Day.
“I’m taking it day by day,” Evans told KTLC10 in an interview. “I’ve lived all over the United States, and I’ve never dealt with racism as much as I have in Portland.” Adding, “It seems to be very accepted behavior by a lot of people out here.”
Hays was arraigned on Tuesday, May 21 — one day after he was arrested on charges for having his dog assault three people, The Oregonian reported. The victims included Evans, Troy Cooper, who is white, and a yet-to-be-identified teenager whom Evans and Cooper said they ran outside to help.
According to a release by the Portland Police Bureau, Evans “sustained significant injuries to his chest and hand” and Cooper was also injured in the attack. The men told police they saw Hays from their respective windows command his dog to attack a white teenager on Sunday, May 12, and ran outside to help.
When Hays saw Evans, he allegedly said he recognized him from his job as a security officer at a local grocery store and called him the racial slur before telling his dog to attack him. When Cooper attempted to intervene, the dog bit him in the groin per reports.
Hays fled the scene, but the two victims saw him on Monday, May 20, in downtown Portland and called the authorities. He was arrested and charged with two counts of second-degree assault, one count of first-degree bias crime and three counts of maintaining a dangerous dog.
Hays denied any wrongdoing, instead telling police Evans and Cooper were “aggressive” with him, prompting his pit bull to attack them.
However, Cooper corroborated Evans’ story. Police believe the teenager they ran out to help also sustained major injuries, but he has yet to come forward.
According to Evans, this isn’t the first time he’s encountered racial violence in the city he’s only been residing in for a year. He’s filed several assault and bias crimes since November 2023, including two incidents involving a white woman named Janee Jewell Plummer.
Per news reports, Plummer, 44, assaulted Evans in November and December 2023 in two different parking lots at Safeway, where he works. Plummer is accused of spitting on Evans, punching him in the face and calling him a “dirty N-word.”
Though she was charged with harassment and bias crimes, a judge ruled she was unfit to stand trial and the charges were suspended. Despite this, Evans said he is thankful for the detectives in Portland’s bias crime unit, however.
“I appreciate the men and women out here that are working in the bias crimes unit. I appreciate them for doing their work. I will say that some sort of justice is pursued,” Evans told KTLV.
It’s not enough to make him stay in Portland, however.
“I try not to dwell on things, but some things are harder to get over than others,” he said. “The only way you can deal with it is how you react to it, and my reaction is just going ahead and taking a step back out of the city.”
Detective Matthew Brown is the officer assigned to the latest case involving Hays. Anyone with information related to it is asked to contact him at [email protected] and reference case number 24-116932.
