Oregon politician wrote racist letter to himself, police say

UMATILLA COUNTY, Ore. -- A man who claimed he received a hate-filled, racist letter from an anonymous person allegedly wrote the letter himself, Hermiston Police say.

Chief Jason Edmiston tells KEPR-TV News that the criminal investigation for second-degree intimidation due to the racist, hate-filled letter received by Jonathan Lopez on June 23 has been closed. The matter will be referred this week to the Umatilla County District Attorney’s Office for initiating a false report - a Class A misdemeanor in Oregon.

Edmiston says the investigation has shown that Jonathan Lopez wrote the letter himself and made false statements to the police and on social media. The end result is a verbal and written admission by Lopez that the letter was fabricated.