MAC bomber exposed a gap political leaders would not face

Bruce Whitman's behavior was more unbalanced than previously reported

Bruce Whitman the Multnomah Athletic Club bomber should be alive. He isn’t and completely innocent people have been harassed by him for years, millions of dollars of damage have been done to a major Portland institution, and a tragedy of epic proportions was averted by blind luck for the same reason that I wrote about here months ago (“When Systems Fail the Seriously Mentally Ill--and Everyone Else” and “Oregon’s Mental Health System Fails All off Us”).

That reason is that Oregon’s mental health system and the judges who enforce it set too high a standard for long term forced custody and treatment of the dangerously mentally ill, there are too few actual custodial beds and the time lines for detaining the dangerously mentally ill are far too short. That’s why Bruce Whitman is dead and (as outlined in my earlier articles) Jonathan Bennett is dead and Jonathan Grall is in custody probably for the rest of his life, and all their families are devastated.

This time, however, I got and up close and personal look at the damage caused by the policy choices are political and judicial leaders have made because, as a long-time member of the Multnomah Athletic Club and a former prosecutor with continuing ties to local law enforcement, I tried to do my bit (although others did more) to get Whitman the treatment and custodial setting he so badly needed. Shockingly, however, both in 2022 and since, the effort ran up against a stone wall erected by so-called mental health advocacy groups and politicians, such as our current governor, in thrall to them.

Let me outline the details of the total failure of their policies so that, perhaps, the death grip that they have on this area of public policy can be at least loosened as our current District Attorney Nathan Vasquez has so rightly called for (link to Vasquez statement of May 4).

In June of 2022, I received an email from the MAC outlining the dangerous behavior of its former employee (see below). Although police had been notified, I knew that then District Attorney Mike Schmidt, who endorses the type of failed policies that have undermined our mental health system, would never take the initiative to try and do something.

Fortunately, there remained solid prosecutors within the office who took a different attitude. My minor contribution was to put members of the MAC administration in touch with one of them.

But then the system responded by holding Whitman in a secure mental health facility for all of two weeks. When released, Whitman, after a respite of several weeks, engaged in the following behavior:

1. Started following harassing and confronting MAC members again;

2. Pulled a knife on his brother and threatened to kill him;

3. I personally witnessed him drive down Salmon street between the MAC and its garage holding a bullhorn and shouting obscenities about MAC through it;

4. Shot himself in the head;

5. Threatened his neighbors.

I could go on. Yet, the meager response of government was to take away some of his guns and briefly detain him again

This is not the way it works in other states. However, in Oregon, organizations like Disability Rights Oregon--which is ironically having a fund raiser today--have a firm hold on public policy and politicians like Gov. Tina Kotek. House Bill 2025 which was signed into law last year by the governor gives the impression of change while withholding real change. What is needed for actual change is that more secure custody beds for the dangerous mentally ill need to be built and the time limits on using them need to be significantly reduced.

The excuses are already pouring in the anti-coercion crowd. Yes, it’s true that most mentally people are not dangerous. Yes, it’s true that when they are they are more likely to be dangerous to themselves than others. Yes, it’s true that we over incarcerated the mentally ill in the past.

However, these are not justifications for what we are doing now. Otherwise, expect more Bruce Whitmans.

Frink is aware of but has no inside information on the investigations of complaints filed by Whitman against the MAC in 2015 and 2019 with the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries, both of which were dismissed.

June 2022 email to MAC members

Dear MAC Member,

Following recent messages regarding former MAC employee Bruce Whitman approaching members at their homes, in public, and near the club, we have received questions and feedback. We share the concern felt throughout this community, and we cannot stress enough that we are committed to doing everything possible to ensure the safety of our members and staff.

Many of you have asked how Whitman is able to find member households. We have no reason to believe he had access to member addresses during his employment with the club, nor do we have reason to believe he currently has access to member rosters or personal information. It is possible that Whitman may be looking for MAC logo parking stickers on cars throughout the area, but until a thorough investigation is conducted by the Portland Police Bureau, we cannot be sure.

We will continue working with the police, other city officials, and the PPB Mental Behavior Specialist assigned to this case to determine any action we can take to keep the community safe. Remember to use extreme caution if you encounter Whitman, and please contact the police immediately if you ever feel unsafe.