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FedEx driver who fatally punched man who called him racial slurs will not be charged
An Oregon FedEx driver will not face charges after fatally punching a man who'd used racial slurs against the driver. (HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP/Getty Images)

FedEx driver who fatally punched man who called him racial slurs will not be charged

Timothy Warren, a driver for FedEx, will not face any charges after fatally punching a man who called him racial slurs. Oregon's Multnomah County District Attorney's Office made the announcement on Monday.

What are the details?

Warren fatally punched Joseph Magnuson on Sept. 26 after Magnuson, a Portland man, reportedly called the FedEx driver the N-word and "other aggressive and abusive phrases."

Witnesses allege that Magnuson instigated the incident and aggressively shouted at Warren, the driver, and demanded he slow down. Warren reportedly stopped the vehicle to speak with Magnuson, according to a report in The Oregonian. When he did, Magnuson reportedly began calling Warren racial slurs, and threw a drink at him.

Other witnesses reported that they'd seen Magnuson throw a bag of food at Warren during the altercation, and then threw a punch at the driver, but missed.

Warren struck Magnuson in the head — above his left eye — and knocked him to the ground, unconscious. He later died as a result of the punch.

Warren remained at the scene of the incident until police arrived, according to the outlet, and cooperated with local law enforcement in their investigation.

What else?

In a Monday memo, Senior Deputy District Attorney Adam Gibbs said that Warren was "in his right" to defend himself against Magnuson's behavior.

"Oregon law contains no 'duty to retreat,' and Mr. Warren was within his right to exit his vehicle and verbally challenge the manner in which Mr. Magnuson was addressing him," the memo read. "Mr. Magnuson was the initial verbal aggressor; Mr. Warren responded in kind. Mr. Magnuson then escalated and became the initial physical aggressor; Mr. Warren again responded in kind."

"The decision by Mr. Warren, who is black, to not let the racist vitriol to which he was being subjected to unanswered is not of legal significance," the memo added.

The outlet also reported that there is no evidence that Warren intended to kill Magnuson when he threw the fatal punch.

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