People who have been arrested since late May on non-violent misdemeanor charges during protests that have racked Oregon’s largest city for more than 70 days won’t be prosecuted
Hundreds of people who have been arrested on suspicion of nonviolent misdemeanor offenses during the protests that have racked Portland for more than 70 days will not be prosecuted, officials in Oregon’s largest city have decided.
The new policy announced Tuesday recognizes the outrage and frustration over a history of racial injustice that has led toas well as practical realities of the court system, which is running more than two months behind in processing cases because of COVID-19, Multnomah County Dist. Atty. Mike Schmidt said.
At least several hundred people who have been arrested in the past few months will not face criminal prosecution, according to statistics provided by Schmidt’s office. People arrested on suspicion of similar offenses in future demonstrations will also not be prosecuted, he said. “The protesters are angry ... and deeply frustrated with what they perceive to be structural inequities in our basic social fabric. And this frustration can escalate to levels that violate the law,” Schmidt said.
“Committing a crime is different from demonstrating,” Lovell said in a statement. “The arrests we make often come after hours of damage to private property, disruption of public transit and traffic on public streets, thefts from small businesses, arson, burglary, attacks on members of the community, and attacks against police officers.”
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