"The Saudis and Fallon Smart"

Steve Duin tells the story of Fallon Smart’s death not far from Pumpkin Ridge and the young Saudi national who was ushered out of the United States to avoid prosecution. Senator Ron Wyden is trying to get the killer brought back for prosecution and like all things in the United States-Saudi Arabia relationship, it’s complicated.

The backstory:

Abdulrahman Sameer Noorah, a Saudi national, swerved around the cars that had stopped so Fallon could cross the street at its intersection with 43rd Avenue.

Noorah had already racked up 17 parking tickets and a suspended drivers’ license in his two years at Portland Community College. Near graduation, he didn’t think the bills would ever come due.

The Saudis proved him right, spiriting him out of the country before he could stand trial on charges of manslaughter, felony hit-and-run and reckless driving.

He hopped into a black GMC Yukon XL two weeks before his June 2017 trial. He cut off his tracking monitor at a sand-and-gravel yard, then vanished. Inside a week, he was back in the kingdom, the Saudis would quietly inform Homeland Security … 13 months later.

The LIV Golf event backed by the Kingdom tees off Friday in Portland.

This AP piece by Anne Peterson looks at some of the backlash expected. Though as the story notes, event organizers have banned any kind of “political” signage. That is not stopping several local mayors and a U.S. Senator from criticizing the event.