Portland jury acquits homeless black stabber after victim said N-word during altercation

A Portland jury has acquitted a 43-year-old man of second-degree assault after a stabbing on a TriMet platform, ruling that prosecutors failed to disprove his claim of self-defense in a confrontation that involved racial slurs.

The incident dates back to July 7, when Gary Edwards approached Gregory Howard Jr., also 43, who was seated on a transit bench, reports KPTV. Surveillance footage, which has no audio, shows Edwards walking up behind Howard with a knife in hand. Howard gets to his feet and shoves Edwards, and the two briefly grapple against a wall before Edwards drives the blade into Howard’s shoulder.

Police body-camera video later recorded Howard using the N-word as officers intervened. Howard insisted he only said it after being stabbed. Edwards, however, testified that the slur came the moment Howard spotted him, and that he reacted out of fear. “What other than racism could explain why Mr Howard perceived hatred, animosity and aggression from a complete stranger?” defense attorney Daniel Small argued to jurors.

Prosecutors pushed back, telling the court that whatever was said afterward did not justify the stabbing. They maintained Edwards was the one dictating the terms of the encounter. “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 said, according to Oregon Live.

Jurors sided with the defense, returning a not-guilty verdict on Oct. 31. Edwards had acknowledged the stabbing but said he acted only after being confronted, and after asking Howard if he wanted to trade cigarettes for the knife he was carrying.

Both men have long histories with the criminal justice system. Edwards has past convictions including attempted second-degree assault in 2021 and served a three-year sentence for a separate stabbing at a Portland light-rail station in 2020. Another case against him, a fourth-degree assault charge involving a store clerk, was dismissed earlier this year due to a lack of available public defenders.

Howard’s background also includes multiple arrests, including a 1997 felony rape of a child conviction in Kitsap County, Washington.