Oregon man fatally stabbed while protecting LGBTQ+ friend

A 32-year-old Oregon man has been hailed as a “protector” after he was fatally stabbed outside a bar when he stood up for an LGBTQ+ friend who was being harassed by another patron.

Colin Smith, a beloved server at Portland eatery Ox, was enjoying a night out with friends at The High Dive bar in the city’s Buckman neighborhood on July 2 when a patron began harassing them, Oregon Live reported.

The man allegedly made homophobic comments, inappropriately touched two members of the group and targeted an LGBTQ+ friend, Smith’s former girlfriend, Paulina Solis, 34, told the news outlet.

Smith jumped in to defend his pal but was stabbed multiple times and died. The assailant had already fled by the time cops arrived.

“He was a protector,” Solis, who was not at the bar, told Oregon Live. “He died being the person that we all knew him to be.”

Members of the US Marshal’s Service on July 7 arrested 24-year-old ​Rahnique Jackson, who has been charged with ​second-degree murder, unlawful use of a weapon and second-degree bias crime, a hate crime under Oregon law, KGW reported.

​Smith, a native of Salt Lake City, Utah, moved several years ago to Portland, where he loved to cook and to host dinner parties for his friends, Solis told Oregon Live.

​Solis, a therapist, and Smith started dating in 2020 and remained close friends after they broke up.

Smith was remembered as a compassionate man who went out of his way to help others.

​“I think Colin, just in general, has always had really strong values around supporting the underdog, just looking out for people who maybe got overlooked,” Solis told People magazine.

​“His passion was cooking, and I can’t tell you how many wonderful meals we made together, how many dinner parties he threw for his friends,” she said.

“When I went out to eat with Colin or when we went out into public, I feel like he always took time to just really genuinely connect with people, whether it be servers, I mean, especially the service industry workers, your grocery store clerks, homeless people,” Solis told the mag.

Smith used to call his mom twice a day to check on her, according to Oregon Live.

​“He was an amazing person,” Julie Smith told the outlet. “Was he perfect? No. But I always said that even when Colin was bad, he was good. Because he was honest.”

The grieving mom added: ​“There’s nothing any of us can do now, except to honor his legacy Make a commitment to do something nice for somebody, even if that means just smiling as you’re walking down the street.”

Smith’s sister, Danielle Smith, 34, who lives in England, told People that she was grateful to have spent a week with him before the senseless killing.

​“I hadn’t seen him for a year and a half because of immigration stuff and COVID. I’m just so blessed that I got to have that time with him,” she said.

Danielle said her brother had been planning to open his own restaurant.

​“He was going to do something great,” she told Oregon Live.

Meanwhile, Ox owner Greg Denton called Smith a “​lovely, generous, amazing human that will be missed dearly and deeply, by not just ourselves but our entire Ox family.”

In a statement to People, he said: ​“Colin embodied the true definition of hospitality.

“Without thought, he put others’ needs before his own, whether that was picking up a shift for a coworker, bringing the kitchen employees beverages on a hot night in the kitchen, or making a guest feel that they were in kind, knowledgeable, and friendly hands,” he said.

A GoFundMe page created by Denton has raised almost $24,000 by Friday morning.