Who is Gary Edwards? Portland jury acquits black man of stabbing white man as victim said N-word after attack
Gary Edwards was cleared of assault charges for stabbing Gregory Howard Jr. after it was revealed that the victim said the N-word following the attack.
A black man was cleared of assault charges by a Portland, Oregon, jury for stabbing a white man after it was revealed that the victim said the N-word following the attack. Gary Edwards, 43, who stabbed 43-year-old Gregory Howard Jr. on July 7 was found not guilty of second-degree assault, KPTV reported.
Edwards admitted to stabbing Howard Jr. However, he claimed he did it in self-defense and accused the victim of using racial, as reported by KPTV.
Who is Gary Edwards?
Edwards is a homeless man with a long rap sheet. He was acquitted on October 31, and has previous convictions for attempted second-degree assault in 2021. He was sentenced to three years in prison for a different stabbing incident at a Portland light rail station in May 2020, according to the New York Post.
Edwards was also accused of fourth-degree assault over a fight with a store clerk. However, the case was dismissed in June due to a lack of available public defenders.
The stabbing of Gregory Howard Jr.
Video from transit cameras showed Edwards approaching Howard Jr. from behind, armed with a fixed-blade knife. Howard Jr. was sitting on a bench when he saw Edwards, jumped up and started pushing him. The two briefly scuffled against a wall, before Edwards stabbed Howard in the shoulder.
The video has no audio. However, Edwards’ defense attorney, Daniel Small, told the jury that his client was approaching the victim to see if he would trade his knife for cigarettes.
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Howard Jr. was heard calling Edwards the N-word after the attack in a police body camera footage when cops intervened. Howard Jr., on the other hand, claimed that he used the racial slur only after he was stabbed. Edwards accused Howard Jr. of calling him the N-word the moment he saw him.
“What other than racism could explain why Mr Howard perceived hatred, animosity and aggression from a complete stranger?” Small told the jury.
The prosecution said that it was irrelevant what Howard Jr. said after the attack, and that Edwards was “in control” throughout the attack. “The defendant is not scared for his life. He didn’t retreat, he sauntered up — and he sauntered away after he stabbed someone. The defendant created the situation,” prosecutor Katherine Williams told the jury.
Howard Jr. has a rap sheet too. He was convicted of felony rape of a child in Kitsap County, WA, in 1997, according to records.
