#Most charges against Portland protesters won’t be prosecuted, DA says

Enlarge Image

A protester leads a chant in front of the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office yesterday.
Nathan Howard/Getty Images

Hundreds of Portland, Oregon, protesters arrested during two months of clashes with law enforcement won’t be prosecuted, the city’s district attorney announced.

Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt unveiled the policy change Tuesday regarding hundreds of the 550 protest-related arrests since late May.

Under the new policy, Schmidt’s office will “presumptively decline” to prosecute cases that don’t fit his criteria, including interfering with a peace, parole or probation officer; second-degree disorderly conduct; first- or second-degree criminal trespass; third-degree escape and harassment. Rioting charges will also not be prosecuted unless accompanied by another crime not included in the list, Schmidt said.

The move will likely lead to no charges for “hundreds of people” arrested since May 29, a spokesman for the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office told The Post.

“Violent crimes, arsons and intentional property damage cases will still be prosecuted,” spokesman Brent Weisberg said.

Portland police have referred 550 cases to the DA’s office since the protests began on May 29, four days after George Floyd’s police-custody killing in Minneapolis. Of those, about 140 were felony crimes, including assault, arson, riot and theft.

Prosecutors are moving ahead in only around 45 of those cases, while the remainder were dropped or are deemed under review, Weisberg said.

Meanwhile, the protests in Portland reached 76 straight days, but with no arrests late Tuesday and early Wednesday, police said.

One group of protesters blocked traffic in downtown Portland for several hours, but the “gathering was peaceful” and officers did not need to interact with the crowd, police said in a statement Wednesday.

A separate group of several hundred people gathered late Tuesday at Laurelhurst Park before marching to the Penumbra Kelly Building, which is shared by the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office and Portland police, KOIN reports.

Demonstrators there chanted “Black lives matter” during the protest billed as a “direct action march,” the station reports.

The group blocked traffic for several hours near the law enforcement facility before a few protesters “entered upon” the property, police said.

“Once again, Portland Police began making public address announcements reminding the crowd they were to remain off of the property or they would be subject to arrest,” police said. “The group members left the property after hearing the announcement.”

No arrests were made during either protest and a majority of the crowd left the area by 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, police said.

The demonstrations were a departure from recent violence at the demonstrations toward Portland cops, who were struck with “dangerous objects” like ball bearings, golf balls and potatoes as recently as Monday.

Previous protests have also included lit fireworks tossed at police and fires set by demonstrators, The Oregonian reports.