A 73-year-old Portland, Oregon activist who aided homeless encampments was stabbed to death on his street by a homeless person on Monday. He acted as a self-appointed neighborhood "sheriff" and would screen homeless people before permitting them to camp on his street. The alleged suspect has already been released from jail, police said.
Kenny Housman, 73, of Portland, was found with a knife wound to the neck. He was transported to the local hospital with life-threatening injuries and later died. The incident occurred around 12:30 am Monday on his street located at Southeast 136th Avenue and Clinton Street in the Powellhurst-Gilbert neighborhood, police said.
A relative told KATU that Housman, who owned the entire block of property on Clinton Street, went to settle an argument between two homeless campers when he was stabbed by one of the campers in the throat. The suspect was held down by two other campers until police arrived. Michael Zamora, who lives in an RV on the street, said he heard screaming from the campers who alerted him to the incident.
"Mike! This guy is beating up Kenny in the street," they yelled, said Zamora. "By the time I got there, Kenny was stabbed and bleeding profusely."
Portland Police told The Post Millennial that officers detained an individual at the scene and the alleged suspect has been released from custody. The suspect is reportedly cooperating with detectives and has not been charged with a crime, according to the PPB. The Medical Examiner determined Housman died of homicide by stab wound, police said.
Housman's street has been the site of a sprawling homeless encampment over the past several years, equipped with RVs, tents, and cars. He told KATU in a September 2023 report that he appointed himself as "Sheriff of Clinton Street" and gets to decide who stays and who goes. After they made it through "screening," Housman would offer the vagrants support, which his neighbors were not on par with.
Housman said he did not allow loud generators or late-night parties and described the kind of people he allowed to camp: "Thanks to my efforts catalytic converters, few of them are stolen, gas, few of it is stolen, because you don't want those kinda people that steal catalytic converters and gas, you don't want them on your street. If there are those kinda people, then you have to take steps to get them out. Semi-illegally and semi-legally— it's kinda right in the middle," Housman told the network.
Housman's neighbors were strongly against his approach and expressed frustration that Housman was enabling the campers to stay, saying that he would provide homeless people with electricity. His neighbors complained about the increase in criminal activity the encampment brought to their neighborhood. According to police records, the neighborhood has an above-average number of assaults, weapons violations, and stolen vehicles, per KATU.
In a statement regarding Housman and his self-appointment as the neighborhood sheriff, the city of Portland's Street Services Coordination Center wrote: "Mr. Housman has been known to contact city workers and attempt to enable people to stay on the block, though he does not have the authority to monitor the public street bordering his property." Despite his neighbors' disapproval, Housman claimed his approach was the only way to beat the homeless crisis.
This remains an open and ongoing investigation. Anyone with information is urged to contact Detective J.D. McGuire at jeff.mcguire@police.portlandoregon.gov or Detective Brent Christensen at brent.christensen@police.portlandoregon.gov. Reference the case number 24-175978.
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