AN IMPERFECT POSTER BOY

Shortly after the news broke that alleged cop-killer Steven Dons had
committed suicide last week, the e-mails were launched.

The first, a "YELLOW ALERT," arrived at Willamette Week at 11:21 am on Feb.
25, saying "FREEDOM FIGHTERS SHOULD PREPARE FOR ACTION NOW." The second,
which showed up two hours later, demanded an independent investigation into
Dons' death, adding ominously, "Dead men tell no lies, or truth."

Both e-mails were from Floyd Landrath, secretary of the Portland chapter of
NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

>From the start, Dons' Jan. 27 shootout with police created a dilemma for
>local marijuana advocates and cop critics (two groups with considerable
>overlap). On the one hand, the shooting highlighted controversial police
>tactics used against suspected marijuana growers ("Sniff and Grab," WW,
>Feb. 11, 1998). On the other hand, as the only suspect in a police
>officer's death, Dons wasn't exactly a sympathetic figure.

When Dons, who was partially paralyzed, wound up dead in the jail hospital,
it added another twist. He had become a victim of the War on Drugs, and
Landrath was ready to mobilize like-minded dissidents in a time of crisis.

The gathering, however, had more the tone of a klatch of PTA moms than a
covey of freedom fighters. The meeting started with a disclosure that there
was only one copy of the agenda and that a recent fund-raising event netted
about $100 and registered four new voters.

The topic of Dons' death was broached.

"Is it suicide, or is it homicide?" Landrath asked the group. "I remember
on Jan. 27th, 28th, a lot of people said, just in conversation, he won't
make it to trial. I had that feeling too."

"Everyone is a suspect," someone else intoned.

Shasta Hatter wondered how "someone who's paralyzed can commit suicide."

That sentiment, however, faded as group members stuffed envelopes for a
mass mailing that would go out later that week.

"We don't want to be perceived as being in the corner of Dons," said Landrath.

Hatter was even more blunt. "Let's be honest," she said. "How many people
care that he's dead?"

Landrath got the group to agree to a candlelight vigil Friday for jailed
marijuana activist Terry Miller. New signs, reflecting the recent events,
could be made. One sign already asked, "Suicide?"

Group members' reaction to that sign, however, was tepid at best. The vigil
was canceled. On Monday, another e-mail arrived. Its subject: "DUMP THE
MARIJUANA THUG FORCE (MTF)." It promised a speakout on Friday, March 6,
across from the downtown Justice Center.