PORTLAND, OR – As protests continue to roar, 22 people were arrested and are facing federal charges for their roles in the riots that took place over the weekend at the federal courthouse in downtown Portland.
City officials claim that these protests start out peaceful, for the most part, but then turn violent as the night went on. On Monday, Oregon’s U.S. Attorney Billy J. Williams said that he is urging peaceful demonstrators to leave the area before other protesters start to get violent and throw fireworks and other harmful objects at officers.
22 people have been arrested and are facing federal charges for their roles in weekend protests at the Hatfield Courthouse in Portland. Read more: https://t.co/gmLGzUZxhB #portland #federalcourt
— U.S. Attorney Oregon (@USAO_OR) July 28, 2020
According to Oregon Live, Williams said that he remains alarmed by the amount of violence that is continuing to happen outside the federal courthouse in downtown Portland.
He said in a statement:
“This nightly violence cannot continue. It is absolutely destroying the soul of our city.”
Williams said that the federal officers will stay in Portland for as long as people continue to damage the Mark O. Hatfield Federal Courthouse.
He said:
“We must defend this building and the institution of justice that it represents. We are not leaving the building unprotected to let it be destroyed by people intent on doing so.”
“We’re not leaving.”#Oregon’s US Attorney Billy J. Williams says the federal government will not abandon any of the federal buildings in #Portland amid weeks of #Riots and attacks on federal property. https://t.co/lVzUPRKfpm
— The Epoch Times (@EpochTimes) July 28, 2020
Williams said he supports peaceful protests, but he does not condone the actions of a core of rioters who set fires, throw fireworks, bottles, and other harmful objects at officers. He urges his community members to also not condone this behavior.
He said:
“We are in the midst of historic civil unrest due to generations of racial injustice and the tragic murder of George Floyd. Nightly violence directed at the federal courthouse and other federal facilities does nothing but hijack peaceful protesters’ original message. It is criminal and it has to stop.”
#NEW: The U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon says 22 people have been arrested and are facing federal charges for their roles in weekend protests at the Hatfield Courthouse in Portland. pic.twitter.com/mTpwmY9KYP
— Jennifer Franco (@jennfranconews) July 28, 2020
According to Fox News, out of the 22 protesters arrested this past weekend, six of them have been charged for alleged criminal conduct during a protest that began Thursday last week and extended into early next morning.
Included in those arrests are:
Carly Anne Ballard, 34 and David Michael Bouchard, 36, both were charged with assaulting federal officers. Josslynn Kreutz, 28, Dakota Eastman, 30, Ezra Meyers, 18, and Mark Rolycanov, 28 were all charged with failing to obey lawful orders.
Eight other people were charged for alleged criminal conduct during a protest beginning on Saturday and continuing into early Sunday morning.
Included in those arrests are:
Rebecca Gonzalez-Morta, 37, Stephen O’Donnell, 65, Thomas Johnson, 33, Nathan Oderdonk-Snow, 21, Joshua Webb 22, Pablo Avvacato, 26, and Doug Dean, 34 were all charged with assaulting federal officers. Richard Lindstet, 33 was charged with operating a drone in restricted airspace.
Seven additional people were charged for alleged criminal conduct during a protest on Sunday night into Monday morning.
Included in those arrests are:
Michael Stephenson, 23, Caleb Willis, 29, Noelle Mandolfo, 30, Travis Williams, 27, Patrick Stanford (age unknown), Coree Jefree (age unknown), and Tyler Gabriel, 22 were all charged with assaulting federal officers.
In addition, federal law enforcement, including agents from Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, arrested Ronald Bernard Hickey, 44, a Canadian National for harassing and stalking federal employees. Allegedly, Hickey harassed and stalked federal officers assigned to assist the Federal Protective Service with ongoing civil unrest in Portland.
He used his Twitter account to release personal information of these federal employees in an attempt to threaten, intimidate, or incite violence against them.
Since May 26th, protests have occurred nightly in Portland. These protests have been followed by nightly criminal activity including assaults on federal law enforcement officers.
Here is another article from Law Enforcement Today about recent arrests of violent protesters in Portland:
On Friday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) reported that 18 people were arrested and are facing federal charges for their roles in several weeknight protests at the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse in Portland.
A whole lotta shakin going on pic.twitter.com/cFQ9Y4peiS
— Ric Peavyhouse (@RPeavyhouse) July 24, 2020
According to police, protesters in downtown Portland set several fires and breached the fence surrounding the Hatfield Federal Courthouse Thursday night, July 22nd and into early Friday morning, July 23rd.
For several hours, more than 1,000 people gathered outside of the Justice Center and the federal courthouse blocking traffic and participating in a demonstration. Around 11 p.m., members of the group set fires inside the fence, shook the fence, threw things over the fence, and tried to dissemble the fence. Several members of the group actually breached the fence.
Police also said that protesters threw harmful items including incendiaries at the federal officers who came outside to protect the federal building and attempt to disperse the violent crowd. By 1 a.m., more protesters had returned back to the fence and continued to set fires, breached the fence, and threw commercial-grade fireworks towards the federal courthouse.
By 2 a.m., protesters were still in the streets, around the federal courthouse, and engaging in violent, destructive behavior. Police at this point declared an unlawful assembly and told people to leave the area.
Many people did not listen to these orders and remained in the area setting fires and damaging courthouse property. From this, 18 protesters were arrested and charged federally.
DOJ: 18 Protesters Arrested in Portland, Facing Federal Charges https://t.co/8wEwWJcScv via @BreitbartNews
— Chuckz (@Chuck2165) July 25, 2020
According to a news release from the DOJ, the charges include assaulting federal police officers, arson, and damaging government property. Since May 26th, Portland has seen nightly protests that have been followed by violent and criminal activity. The Hatfield Federal Courthouse has been a nightly target of vandalism and from that has sustained extensive damage.
Various federal departments including the U.S. Marshals Service deputies, officers from the Federal Protective Service, Homeland Security Investigations, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection have been working tirelessly every night to protect the Federal Courthouse. While performing their duties of protecting and serving, they have been subjected to nightly threats and assaults from demonstrators.
Some of the other violent and criminal activity that has taken place and continues to take place includes destruction of property, looting, arson, vandalism, and assaulting law enforcement officers.
The DOJ news release shows a breakdown of who was arrested and for what. Five people were charged for alleged criminal conduct during a protest beginning July, 2020 and continuing into the early morning hours of July 21, 2020.
Included in this are:
- Jennifer Kristiansen, 37 who was charged with assaulting a federal officer,
- Zachary Duffly, 45 who was charged with creating a disturbance,
- Wyatt Ash-Milby, 18 who was charged with trespassing on federal property, and
- Caleb Ehlers, 23 and Paul Furst, 22 were charged with failing to comply with a lawful order.
Seven people were charged for alleged criminal conduct during a protest beginning July 21, 2020 and continuing into the early morning hours of July 22, 2020.
Included in this are:
- Jerusalem Callahan, 24 who was charged with willfully damaging government property,
- Joseph Ybarra, 21 who was charged with arson,
- Marnie Sager, 27 and Ella Miller, 26 who were charged with failing to comply with a lawful order,
- Taylor Lemons, 31, Giovanni Bondurant, 19, and Gabriel Houston, 22 who were all charged with assaulting federal officers.
Six people were charged for alleged criminal conduct during a protest beginning July 22, 2020 and continuing into the early morning hours of July 23, 2020.
Included in this are:
- Joseph Lagalo, 37,
- Bailey Breibelbis, 22,
- Nicholas Klobier, 26,
- David Hazan, 24,
- Hailey Holden, 30,
- Cameron Knueston (age unknown at the time) were all charged with failing t comply with a lawful order.
According to The Hill, all defendants that have been charged are believed to be local residents. All 18 defendants made their first appearances in court and they were ordered released pending jury trials or other follow-up court proceedings.
All cases are being jointly investigated by the U.S. Marshals Service and Federal Protective Services. Additionally, they are all being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon.
According to KGW8, U.S. Attorney Billy J. Williams said that anyone who defends this nightly destruction is only enabling it. He said in a statement:
“Blaming federal agents for protecting federal property is an easy out for people who want to politicize this. You have to ask the community how long they are willing to tolerate this mindless violence.”
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