On February 19, 2022, Benjamin Jeffrey Smith approached and assaulted a small group of protesters, at the edge of Normandale Park in Portland, Oregon, United States.

[11][5][12] It must be noted that in January of 2025 (almost three years after the shooting) Portland police chief Bob Day issued a formal apology for publishing inaccurate information about the incident.

Day’s apology had three main points: he is sorry for the police bureau initially saying the shooter was a homeowner when he was not, for falsely claiming the victims were armed protestors when they were unarmed traffic safety volunteers, and for not clarifying the shooting was an unprovoked attack on an innocent group.

[14][15] People attempted to de-escalate the situation, but Smith pulled a .45 caliber handgun and fired at close range into a crowd of safety volunteers and struck five.

[31] Knightly had been an activist with Portland's racial justice movements[23][32] and was among a small group preparing to act as a traffic safety volunteer the night of the shooting.

I can't think of anything else that could occur from that type of misreporting or misinformation.”[40] Several local organizations called for an independent investigation into the city on the spread of misinformation in the aftermath of the shooting.

City leaders said they had difficulty obtaining information from witnesses, which some racial justice advocates said that was due to false characterizations about the demonstration and of fears of further violence or reprisal.

[42] Sandy Chung, executive director of the Oregon ACLU, noted the "context and environment of threats and doxing towards Black leaders and communities who are fighting for racial justice, but also the allies of this work.

"[42] Chuck Lovell, the Portland police chief, said that shell casings, and possibly other evidence, was removed from the crime scene, which hampered the initial investigation.

[44] The grand jury voted to indict Smith, the shooter,[45] and on March 23, 2022, he was transferred from a hospital and booked into a jail facility, and the case information was available for public view.

"[51] Portland Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty said in a statement on Twitter, "While we need more information about what transpired, I can say that protesting for racial justice should never endanger those exercising their 1st amendment rights.

[53][12][19] Many of the deceased victim's friends and local advocates called the shooting "predictable" due to the history of far-right gathering and violent protests held in Portland in the past year.