Oregon State Police (OSP) ended its defense of a federal courthouse in downtown Portland, OR, on Thursday as part of a broader withdrawal of approximately 100 state police from the City of Roses.
KOIN News, a Portland-based CBS affiliate, reported, “The Oregon State Police is ending its agreement to help Portland police protect the Hatfield Federal Courthouse, the scene of many of the protests over the past 76 nights.. … The reason they’re ending their agreement is because they are angry over new Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt’s decision not to prosecute most of those arrested.”
“The Oregon State Police is continually reassessing our resources and the needs of our partner agencies and at this time we are inclined to move those resources back to counties where prosecution of criminal conduct is still a priority,” said OSP Capt. Timothy Fox, alluding to Schmidt’s refusal to prosecute most of the 500 arrested protesters. “We’re in a county that’s not going to prosecute this criminal behavior,” he added.
Fewer than 50 of the 500 arrested protesters have been charged.
Portland’s NBC affiliate KGW8 reported:
Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt said his office wouldn’t prosecute protesters arrested for city ordinance violations unless they included property damage, theft or the use or threat of force against another person. Those city ordinance violations include interfering with a peace officer or parole and probation officer, disorderly conduct in the second degree, criminal trespass in the first and second degree escape in the third degree, harassment and riot (unless accompanied by a charge outside of this list).
Rioters and vandals targeted the federal courthouse with commercial-grade fireworks and arson attempts, according to the Portland Police Bureau.
Thursday marked the 77th night of leftist-driven protests and riots in Portland.
Weeks ago, Gov. Kate Brown (D-OR) and Vice President Mike Pence arranged for OSP to protect the Hatfield Federal Courthouse, a recurring target of left-wing rioters, in order to keep federal law enforcement out of Portland.
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