Ever since Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt announced what many are calling his "catch and release" policy, rioters in Portland have operated with clear guidelines regarding what they would and would not be prosecuted for. Knowledge of this works in favor of the rioters, who know what they can get away with.

By issuing the statement, Schmidt put police in a less-than-optimal position in which they could not count on prosecutors to attach any consequences to rioters' misbehavior. Many people were arrested multiple times, for serious crimes and immediately released. Observers feared that this was creating conditions in which mob violence could thrive and flourish. It did.

Elected officials such as Oregon Governor Kate Brown (D-Portland) and Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler (D-Portland) have wanted to be sympathetic to the rioters, yet, after more than three months wanted to see the violence end. Schmidt's actions created an impasse.

In a move that has only recently become public, is has been discovered that State Troopers have been deputized as federal Marshals which gives them the authority to arrest rioters for federal crimes. Additionally, rioters have begun being charged with the crime of "civil disorder" which is a federal crime. This combination may mean the end of "catch and release" for rioters.

The end game may be that federal charges stack up against the worst of the rioters and as the consequences stack up, the resolve to riot wanes.


--Staff Reports

Post Date: 2020-09-05 19:47:27