In Portland, a jury found 43‑year‑old Gary Edwards not guilty of second‑degree assault after he stabbed Gregory Howard Jr. on July 7. Edwards admitted to the knife attack but insisted he acted in self‑defense because Howard had shouted the n‑word earlier in the incident.
Both men were homeless and had long criminal histories. Surveillance footage showed Edwards approach Howard from behind, armed with a fixed‑blade knife, and the pair briefly tussled before Edwards thrust the blade into Howard’s shoulder. Though the footage had no sound, Edwards’ lawyer, Daniel Small, told the jury that his client had only been looking to trade the knife for cigarettes.
When police arrived, officers recorded Howard calling Edwards the n‑word after the stabbing, a claim Edwards also made; Howard maintained he used the slur only after being stabbed. Small asked the jury, “What other motive except racism could explain why Mr Howard felt hatred and aggression from a stranger?” Prosecutor Katherine Williams countered that Howard’s words were irrelevant and that Edwards had remained in control throughout the confrontation, “he didn’t back down; he walked up, stabbed, and walked away.”
Edwards had previously been convicted of attempted second‑degree assault in 2021 and sentenced to three years in prison for a May 2020 stabbing at a light‑rail station. A separate fourth‑degree assault charge was dismissed in June due to a lack of public defenders. Howard himself has a criminal record that includes a 1997 felony rape conviction in Kitsap County, Washington.
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