📧 “Formal Demand” to KGW8
To the News Director, KGW8 / Nexstar Media Group:
I am writing on behalf of the Military Improvement Association (MIA), a 501(c)19 veteran civil rights organization based in Albany, Oregon, to formally demand a retraction and public apology for KGW8's April 26, 2017 story filed by reporter Pat Dooris, headlined "Charges dropped against Marine in Portland Iraqi restaurant assault."
The story is archived at: https://www.kgw.com/article/news/crime/charges-dropped-against-marine-in-portland-iraqi-restaurant-assault/283-433892009
SPECIFIC FALSE STATEMENT
The story states: "The charge of second-degree intimidation, a hate crime under Oregon law, has been dropped."
This statement is false. There has never been a law in the Oregon Revised Statutes designated as a "hate crime." ORS 166.155, the Intimidation II statute, was a misdemeanor bias charge in 2017. It was not amended to "Bias Crime" until 2019. The only applicable federal hate crimes law — the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 (HCPA) — was a federal statute under which no charges were ever filed in this case.
KGW published a false legal characterization that had no basis in Oregon statute or federal charge sheet.
HARM TO THE PROTECTED CLASS
Military families have been a federally protected class under HCPA since 2009, specifically under Section 4712 of that Act. KGW's false characterization — that an Oregon state misdemeanor charge constituted a "hate crime" — inverted the law's actual application. The HCPA does not primarily exist to prosecute veterans. It exists, in part, to protect them.
By falsely applying hate crime language to a veteran's conduct without legal basis, KGW's coverage contributed to a media environment in which military service itself was associated with hate crime motivation. This framing endangered members of my protected class by reinforcing a false and harmful stereotype: that combat experience predisposes veterans toward bias-motivated violence against the communities they served alongside.
That is not a characterization any responsible news organization should publish without a factual legal foundation. KGW did not have one.
SEQUENCE AND CONSEQUENCE
The April 26, 2017 KGW story was part of a cascade of media coverage that preceded and, I believe, influenced the adjudication of this case. On April 26 — the same day KGW's story aired — the Multnomah County District Attorney dismissed the original misdemeanor Information, citing a pending investigation. On July 3, 2017, a Grand Jury returned a felony indictment, including Assault in the Second Degree. That felony charge barred Sergeant Major Rodriguez from Portland's veterans trauma court — the specialized docket designed precisely for decorated combat veterans with PTSD and no prior criminal history.
He was exactly the population veterans courts were built for. He was barred because of a felony escalation that followed, in part, a media environment your outlet helped create with false legal language.
DEMAND
I hereby demand that KGW8:
Issue a formal on-air and online correction to the April 26, 2017 story, specifically retracting the characterization of ORS 166.155 as "a hate crime under Oregon law."
Issue a public apology to Sergeant Major Damien Rodriguez for contributing to a false narrative about his conduct that influenced public perception of his case.
Respond to this letter in writing within 30 days of receipt.
Failure to respond or to correct the record will inform my assessment of further legal and regulatory action, including but not limited to a complaint to the Federal Communications Commission regarding the broadcast of false information, and potential inclusion of KGW8 / Nexstar Media Group in pending civil rights litigation.
Please be advised that I have already issued litigation hold notices to other press organizations whose 2017 coverage of this case contained the same false characterization.
I am prepared to discuss this matter and provide the underlying documentation, including the original charge sheet, the Grand Jury indictment, and the final sentencing order, to any KGW representative who wishes to engage in good faith.
