Approximately 50 members of Portland, Oregon’s Rapid Response Team (RRT) — which represents the entire team — resigned en masse on Wednesday after one of its members was indicted for allegedly assaulting a rioter. For over a year now, Portland has been besieged by riots involving left-wing groups Antifa and Black Lives Matter.
The RRT is responsible for responding to crowd events where a potential for violence exists. The RRT is a voluntary assignment and, for now, the officers who have resigned from that unit will continue with their regular duties.
On Tuesday, Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt announced that Officer Corey Budworth had been indicted on one count of fourth-degree assault for injuring a rioter in an August 18, 2020 riot.
“In this case, we allege that no legal justification existed for Officer Budworth’s deployment of force, and that the deployment of force was legally excessive under the circumstances,” Schmidt said in a statement. “My office will continue to do everything we can to ensure justice is done without error or delay and that we make sure our work and practices are rooted in fairness and equity.”
Budworth is accused of using “excessive and unlawful use of force” against a woman by the name of Teri Jacobs, who describes herself as an “independent photojournalist.” In February, the City of Portland agreed to a $50,000 civil settlement to Jacobs.
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But the Portland Police Association said in a statement that Jacobs was just another rioter who was engaging in “criminal activity” at the time of the incident.
“Officer Budworth used baton pushes to move a rioter, now known to be Teri Jacobs, out of the area. As Officer Budworth cleared Ms. Jacobs from the area to stop her criminal activity, Ms. Jacobs fell to the ground. Reasonably believing that she was getting back up to re-engage in her unlawful activities, Officer Budworth employed one last baton push to try and keep her on the ground, which accidentally struck Ms. Jacobs in the head. The location of Officer Budworth’s last baton push was accidental, not criminal,” according to the Portland Police Association’s statement.
“[Budworth] faced a violent and chaotic, rapidly evolving situation, and he used the lowest level of baton force — a push; not a strike or a jab — to remove Ms. Jacobs from the area.”
Acting Chief of Police Chris Davis, who is filling in for Chief Chuck Lovell, said that the resignation of the entire RRT does not mean that Portland police won’t be responding to riots in the city. They’ll just have to use officers who aren’t specifically trained in crowd-control situations.
“This does not mean there will be no response in public order situations,” Davis said in a press conference. “We’ll use the resources we have.”
According to Davis, the mass resignation was a result of more than a year’s worth of grievances the RRT had against the police bureau. The indictment of Budworth was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
“They brought up that among a lot of other things,” Davis said. “I think that, really, this is the culmination of a very long process and it’s not just an indictment that caused this to happen.”
In one cruel irony, that particular August riot, in which Budworth was accused of using excessive force, occurred exactly one week after Schmidt announced that most of the 550 rioters who had been arrested over that summer of violence in Portland would not be prosecuted for their crimes. At the time, Schmidt said that the policy of not prosecuting rioters was meant to “create a forum” for the people of Portland to express their “collective grief, anger and frustration,” over the death of Minneapolis criminal George Floyd while in police custody in May of 2020.
Just to be clear, some of the crimes those 550 rioters won’t be charged for include assault, vandalism, and setting fires in the city.
Schmidt also announced that other use-of-force incidents were still under review, and that more charges may be forthcoming. In particular, his office has referred complaints against Portland Police Detective Erik Kammerer to the state’s Department of Justice for review.
The Portland Police Association argues that the decision to prosecute Budworth — and potentially more police officers — is politically motivated.
“Unfortunately, this decorated public servant has been caught in the crossfire of agenda-driven city leaders and a politicized criminal justice system,” the Police Association declared in their statement.
If you’re wondering why — after more than a full year — Portland is still having trouble with ongoing riots, it’s politically motivated decisions such as these. On one hand, they coddle the far-left protesters and decline to prosecute them for their behavior, allowing that behavior to continue unabated. On the other hand, when a cop uses his baton in defense of his city, the book is thrown at him.
