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Baxter's black bloc friends better watch out!

from https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2025/01/new-multnomah-county-da-stakes-out-tough-protest-policy-in-break-from-predecessor-im-going-to-hold-you-accountable.html

New Multnomah County DA stakes out tough protest policy in break from predecessor: ‘I’m going to hold you accountable’
Updated: Jan. 22, 2025, 10:11 p.m.|Published: Jan. 22, 2025, 2:24 p.m.
Nathan Vasquez
Multnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vasquez took a firm line with protesters who break the law during a press conference Wed., Jan. 22,
2025.Zane Sparling/The Oregonian

By Zane Sparling | The Oregonian/OregonLive
In a clear break from his predecessor, Multnomah County District
Attorney Nathan Vasquez promised this week that protesters arrested for breaking the law will be prosecuted — period.

It was only 4½ years ago when Vasquez, who took office this month after ousting his boss, Mike Schmidt, appeared at an August 2020 press
conference alongside Schmidt, who announced he would not prosecute
people arrested for low-level charges, including rioting, disorderly
conduct, or breaking a citywide curfew.

For months afterward, social justice demonstrators and cadres of
black-clad anarchists continued their restive protests, making Portland
a poster child of big-city disorder and a punching bag for President
Donald Trump and other right-wing commentators.

But if there was any doubt things had changed, Vasquez told reporters
Wednesday that no such policy exists now and that he would seek charges
against demonstrators from “the left, right or center.”

“I don’t think it served this community. And I don’t think it served the individuals that were actually out trying to get their message out,”
Vasquez said of the defunct no-prosecution policy.

To lawbreakers, his message was: “I’m going to seek to hold you accountable.”

Vasquez made his announcement the morning after several hundred
demonstrators gathered in Tom McCall Waterfront Park to listen to
speeches. As many of the people dispersed, a smaller band marched toward
City Hall, leaving a trail of spray painted symbols behind them.

Portland police officers and Oregon State Police troopers swooped into
the crowd and arrested five people, primarily on allegations of criminal mischief or resisting arrest.

Speaking at Wednesday’s press conference, Police Chief Bob Day recalled
how someone told him that police weren’t even visible at a smattering of previous protests held in the wake of President Donald Trump’s election
last year and Monday’s inauguration.

“That’s exactly the point,” the chief said. “We’re not there. We don’t
have to be…. But we’re always monitoring and observing, and when we saw
the acts of vandalism, we felt like we needed the intervention.”

Portland Police Chief Bob Day
Portland Police Chief Bob Day speaks with reporters Wed., Jan. 22,
2025.Zane Sparling/The Oregonian

Notably absent from the press conference were other elected officials,
though Mayor Keith Wilson said in a statement he supported the district attorney’s “safeguarding” of free expression by arresting those who committed vandalism.

A police spokesperson said Wilson had “a packed calendar” and could not attend, while Natalie Sept, chief of staff to Council President Elana Pirtle-Guiney, said their office was awaiting an after-action briefing.

“The few individuals exploiting protests and rallies for vandalism only distract from the important issues Portlanders are raising,”
Pirtle-Guiney said in a statement.

President Trump had a few choice words for Portland during a speech on Inauguration Day, when he suggested that 2020 protesters hadn’t been
held accountable.

“Look what happens in other parts of the country, in Portland, where
they kill people and destroy the city — nothing happens to them,” Trump said.

The truth is more complicated. Of roughly 1,100 people arrested during
the social justice protests, an analysis by The Oregonian/OregonLive
found that roughly 75% were not prosecuted. Some 200 people went to
court, with punishments ranging from probation to multi-year prison
sentences.

In a notable example, Malik Muhammad was sentenced to 10 years in prison
in a joint federal and county case for tossing Molotov cocktails at
police. Oregon sentencing guidelines call for a probationary sentence
for a first-time offender charged with spray painting graffiti or
breaking a window, regardless of the political context.

Schmidt had announced the policy on his 11th day in office, and has long
said the public missed the second half of his message: that those
committing property damage or violence would be prosecuted.

Vasquez didn’t draw a distinction between charges on Wednesday.

“When you allow criminal behavior,” he said, “our city suffers.”

The Oregonian/OregonLive reporter Shane Dixon Kavanaugh contributed to
this article.

—Zane Sparling covers breaking news and courts for The
Oregonian/OregonLive. Reach him at 503-319-7083, zsparling@oregonian.com
or @pdxzane.

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