Portland man charged with attacking U.S. Marshal officer from behind with baseball bat during riot

Portland man charged with attacking U.S. Marshal officer from behind with baseball bat during riot

Portland man charged with attacking U.S. Marshal officer from behind with baseball bat during riot

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PORTLAND, OR– On Tuesday, a Portland man was charged with assaulting a U.S. Marshals Officer with a baseball bat during a riot at the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse back on July 27th.

According to a news release from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the suspect, Dakotah Ray Hortin, 24, has been charged by criminal complaint with one count of assaulting a federal officer. 

In the early morning hours of July 27th, rioters attempted to destroy a security fence that was set up in front of the federal courthouse with power tools.

As rioters continued to try and take down the fence, many of them began attacking law enforcement officers by throwing harmful objects, such as glass bottles and explosive devices at them.

Allegedly, rioters ignored the many repeated orders that were given to them, telling them to disperse and leave the area.

Deputies moved forward in a line in an attempt to disperse the large, violent crowd. One of the rioters began assaulting an officer and as another officer knelt down to assist in arresting the individual, Horton approached him from behind and struck the deputy in the upper back, neck, and shoulder with a wooden baseball bat.

The injured deputy as well as other individuals saw Horton pointing the bat at him.  The assault was captured on video and shared on social media. The officer suffered non-life threatening injuries.

In an effort to identify Horton, the U.S. Marshals Service distributed a bulletin law enforcement agencies across Portland seeking their assistance.

The bulletin included a full body image of Horton as well as many close-up photos of his face that were collected from videos posted online. Within two weeks, Horton was spotted in the Rock Creek area of Washington County.

Horton was arrested without incident. During his arrest, deputies found a loaded firearm concealed in his waistband.

According to reports, Horton made his initial appearance in federal court on August 18th and he is now being held at the Multnomah County Detention Center pending further court proceedings.

If convicted, Horton could see up to 20 years in federal prison for assaulting a federal officer with a deadly or dangerous weapon.

Oregon Live reported that Assistant U.S. Attorney Leah Bolstad said that the firearm was loaded with a round in the chamber and that Horton does not have a permit to carry a concealed weapon.

Assistant federal public defender Gerald Needham argued back that the gun was purchased lawfully and not used in any crime.

He also made the argument that Horton has held jobs at fast-food restaurants, such as Applebee’s and McDondald’s, is a Portland native, and currently lives with his grandmother. U.S. Magistrate Judge John Jelderks seemed to not be moved by Needham’s claims, as he ordered Horton to remain in custody, citing his “incredibly poor and violent judgment” and his access to a firearm.

U.S. Attorney Billy J. Williams said in a statement:

“Assaulting a federal officer with a dangerous weapon is a serious violent crime. I applaud the tenacity of the deputy U.S. Marshals who, for multiple weeks, worked tirelessly to identify this defendant.”

In echoing Williams, Acting Special Agent in charge, Eben Roberts said:

“This case is a shining example how law enforcement successfully works together to pursue violent opportunists that assault federal law enforcement personnel as they are serving their community, in this case, literally protecting the institution of American Justice.”

He added:

“HSI stands ready to assist in these types of investigations to ensure law enforcement can safely and effectively perform its congressional mandate.”

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Check out another article below from Law Enforcement Today about the violent protests in Portland:

PORTLAND, OR –For weeks, Democratic leaders in Portland told the world that the only reason there were protests and riots in their city were because of the federal police presence in the city. 

It was hard to imagine that anyone would believe that as the riots occurred nightly before the federal police were dispatched. 

However, now the nightly attacks are specifically on the Portland Police Department and the officers.  Who or what could the democratic leaders possibly blame the continued riots on now?

On August 10th, a crowd began to form around 8pm at Alberta Park on Northeast Killingsworth St. 

This crowd began to move around 9:45pm on their path toward the north Portland Police Precinct at 449 NE Emerson St.  As the mob moved toward the precinct, they blocked the roadways with the people in front carrying shields. 

Of course, the Portland Police were worried about the mob’s direction as they had recently attempted to burn the building down while it was occupied. 

In an attempt to prevent any other arson attempts, Portland Police and Oregon State Troopers formed a perimeter around the building. 

The mob then began to descend on the Police Precinct and faced off a line of police officers standing guard to protect the area.  Officers gave repeated warnings to the crowd and on twitter that “criminal activities including, but not limited to, vandalism, unlawful entry to the building, or fire starting,” would not be tolerated. 

They further warned:

“Failure to adhere to this order may subject you to arrest, citation, and/or the use of crowd control agents including tear gas and/or impact weapons.” 

The criminals, as usual, ignored all orders and warnings to the crowd not to participate in criminal activities.  Instead, they began shinning lasers and strobing lights into the eyes of the police. 

The rioters then using several different objects ranging from golf balls to potatoes.  As a result of the criminal activity, the Portland Police Department declared a riot and began giving orders to the crowd to disperse. 

The officers then moved into the crowd of criminals who refused to leave after ample warnings were given.  Some of the crowd fought with officers trying to move them from the area, one of which was arrested. 

While that subject was being processed, he “kicked on Oregon State Trooper and two Portland detectives.  Thankfully, it does not appear the law enforcement officers were injured.

Other attacks included a ball bearing which somehow struck a police officer. 

The shield on the officer’s helmet protected him from injury.  Another officer had a hyperextended elbow as a result of a physical confrontation with one of the criminals in the crowd. 

Thankfully the officer received medical treatment and was later released from the hospital. 

BallBearing.JPG 

 

Most of the crowd was dispersed from the North precinct, however, some of the criminals came back around 2am.  These thugs began attacking the officers by throwing objects at them and refusing to leave.  Officers were able to take some of these rioters into custody. 

Protests and riots like these have been a nightly occurrence in Portland since the death of George Floyd in May. 

Criminals who march, destroy property, and attack officers in what started as citizens voicing their concerns over the death of Floyd in police custody, however, it has morphed into shear and complete attacks on the American system and way of life.

People who are emboldened due to lack of consequences for their actions show up each night ready to fight.  They know that the Portland City Council will cave to most if not all of their demands, and now they know that the Multnomah County District Attorney most likely will not prosecute them if they are arrested.

Recently, District Attorney Mike Schmidt announced that his office will be dropping hundreds of criminal chargers against those he deems were protesters that had been arrested. 

People who were arrested for interfering with the police, criminal trespass, escape, disorderly conduct, or harassment no longer need to fear prosecution. 

Schmidt said that the only people that may continue to be prosecuted are those who damaged property or used force. 

“What we’re doing is recognizing that the right to speak and have your voice heard is extremely important,” he said at his first news conference.  Whether this move will further embolden the criminals or not remains to be seen.

Regarding the events of the 10th, police announced they arrested nine people in total.  Charges for the group ranged from assault on a public safety official to reckless driving.  Based upon those charges, those who were arrested will have their charges dropped according to Schmidt. 

Here’s the full story on the DA showing support for Antifa:

PORTLAND, OR – After going on around 70-some-odd days of violent protests and riots in Portland, Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt decided the best move to do was to actually stop prosecuting certain crimes committed during these riots.

In a new policy announced on August 11th, DA Schmidt stated that in order to “promote a safe community” and “reduce the negative and lasting impacts” of an arrest record – people doing illegal things during the riots need to stop getting prosecuted.

According to the DA, the rationale for changing what does and does not get prosecuted is the following:

“If we leverage the full force of the criminal justice system on individuals who are peacefully protesting and demanding to be heard, we will cause irreparable harm to them individually and to our society.

“The prosecution of people exercising their rights to free speech and assembly in a non-violent manner takes away from the limited resources that we have to prosecute serious crimes and to assist crime victims.”

Well, lets examine what these “non-violent” charges would be that would no longer get prosecuted:

  • Interfering with a peace officer or parole and probation officer
  • Second-degree disorderly conduct
  • First and second-degree criminal trespass
  • Third-degree escape
  • Harassment
  • Riot (Unless accompanied by a charge outside of this list)

Oh, and in the event someone during a riot gets charged with resisting arrest, the DA’s office said they’ll take into consideration the “chaos of a protesting environment” when deciding whether to prosecute or not.

Now, let’s look at this first charge that DA Schmidt will no longer prosecute, that being interfering with a police officer as defined by Oregon state law. This means that someone can prevent police from fulfilling their lawful duties and not get into any trouble…like maybe creating a barricade not allowing officers to arrest a criminal.

Not only that, but this now creates a free pass for people to willingly disobey lawfully given orders. Because that also falls under ORS 162.247.

As for second-degree disorderly conduct, now people won’t get in legal trouble for blocking traffic, yelling “fire” in an apartment building, engages in “fighting or in violent, tumultuous or threatening behavior,” and many other forms of disorderly conduct.

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And really? Criminal trespass in the first and second degree are now freebies too? That means when someone is lawfully told to leave a premises that they don’t own (say for instance, protesters invade your yard), no legal consequences will arise if they refuse to leave your property.

Harassment has to be one of the more absurd ones not going to be prosecuted either – because that means someone can subject “such other person to offensive physical contact,” or be allowed to berate someone in public and follow them around while doing so.

Rioting, which is a felony, will only get prosecuted if the alleged offender did something else illegal that wasn’t any of the aforementioned. Rioting is illegal for a reason, just like third-degree escape from police custody.

People have no been given the proverbial “okay” to riot in Portland and then escape from police custody and not get prosecuted.

But the madness doesn’t stop there.

So long as a rioter “only” commits a crime, whether felony or misdemeanor, during a protest that causes financial loss…they can have their cases dismissed if they pay restitution or abide by other outlines delineated by the DA’s office.

Here are the charges where people can have their criminal cases magically vanish if they abide by the court’s requests:

  • Second and third-degree criminal mischief – when the value is under $1,000
  • First, second and third-degree theft – when the value is under $1,000 or when the theft is committed during a riot
  • Second-degree burglary if combined with any criminal mischief or theft allegation

While the police department and the DA’s office said they won’t tolerate any violence toward police officers or other people in the community, they’re practically turning a blind eye to the menacing crowds that are terrorizing residents in Portland.

Pure, unadulterated madness.

It’s like he’s taking a page from the playbook of the San Francisco DA.  

In case you missed it… here’s that report from March:

SAN FRANCISCO, CA- San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, who was raised by Weather Underground terrorists, is not endearing himself to members of the San Francisco Police Department.

Mere weeks after “suspending” prosecution for a man who was shot after assaulting a SFPD officer with a deadly weapon, Boudin has taken his politically correct BS to a whole other level.

On Friday, Boudin announced new policies that would be taking effect immediately within his office. And, they’re beauties.

Prosecutors will no longer charge people with possession of contraband based on so-called stop-and-frisk style pretextual searches, or use status-based sentencing enhancements, such as prior strikes, or alleged gang-affiliation status, except in extraordinary circumstances.

“Pretextual stops and sentencing enhancements based on who you know rather than what you did are relics of the tough-on-crime era that failed to make us safer,” Boudin said in a statement.

“Instead they led to mass incarceration, targeted innocent black and brown drivers, and increased recidivism. They stand in the way of fairness and justice,” he said.

“Today we take action. We send a message that is loud and clear to the police department and communities of color. We will no longer participate in, condone, tolerate or amplify racist police tactics,” he said.

What a pure, unadulterated clown.

A pretextual stop is when an officer pulls over for a traffic violation and during that stop, he/she develops reasonable suspicion or probable cause and conducts a search of either the vehicle and/or the occupants.

According to Boudin’s office, research shows that pretextual stops erode trust in communities of color and result in disproportionate arrests and higher convictions.

 

Citing a 2020 Racial Identity and Profiling Advisory Board Report, Boudin said that black drivers in San Francisco are stopped five times more often than white drivers.

The report also claims that drugs were only found in 1.3 percent of traffic stops, while firearms or ammunition were seized in just 0.6 percent of the stops.

Supervisor Shamann Walton thought Boudin’s decision was simply awesome.

“Pretextual stops, just like stop-and-frisk, overwhelmingly target communities of color. These policies, along with gang enhancements and other status enhancements, have contributed to abhorrent racial disparities in this city’s criminal justice system, resulted in excessive sentences, and have not made us any safer.

The constitutionality of these stops has always been in question and it is time to end them.”

The new reforms are supposedly designed to reduce racial disparities in the city’s criminal justice system. The implementation of these policies makes San Francisco the first city in the country to implement such policies, according to Boudin’s office.

However, the San Francisco Police Association blasted Boudin for the new “reforms.”

In a statement, SFPOA President Tony Montoya said:

“In his short tenure, Chesa Boudin has demonstrated that he is a clear and present danger to the law abiding residents, businesses and visitors of San Francisco.

Get pulled over and have an illegal handgun or AR-15? No problem, Boudin will throw out your case. Have 10 pounds of meth all in small plastic bags ready for sale?

No problem, Boudin will throw your case out too. It’s unconscionable that Boudin would let someone with an illegal gun go free, only to allow them the opportunity to arm themselves again.

Chesa Boudin is emboldening criminals and we are all going to pay a steep price for this absurd practice.”

Here is a little more on Boudin. 

If you ever wonder why things are out of control in San Francisco, look no further than what just happened in the city since Boudin was sworn in. 

As mentioned, last month the San Francisco District Attorney’s office decided to “withdraw the complaint” against a man who attacked two San Francisco police officers without provocation in December.

Communications Manager Paula Lehman-Ewing released the following statement on behalf of the District Attorney’s office:

“We decided to remove this case from the calendar at this time so that we may have a chance to evaluate all the facts.

The health of any criminal case depends on internal clarity around the charges being filed, which becomes more complicated when you are dealing with an instance where there is potentially competing criminal liability. However, the case and underlying charges have not been dismissed.”

Frankly, this sounds like a load of horse manure. And the president of the San Francisco Police Officers Association agrees.

“That’s just lawyer talk, technically they said they’re withdrawing the complaint if you read between the lines, that’s exactly what they’re doing, they’re dropping the charges,” said union president Tony Montoya.

“His charging decision to not charge Mr. Hampton for feloniously assaulting two of my members is not only cause of concern to all of my members but should be cause of concern to all abiding persons that come to San Francisco,” Montoya said.

Jamaica Hampton’s assault on the two SFPD officers was caught on video from both surveillance video in the neighborhood, as well as from the body-worn cameras of the two police officers.

Boudin, the newly elected social-justice warrior District Attorney told ABC-7 in San Francisco that there’s a difference between dismissing the case and withdrawing the complaint.

“The decision we made was one that frankly is in the best interest of the officers because they’re both being investigated right now by our internal investigation bureau into their use of firearms in the incident.

It would be improper and unfair to put them on the witness stand, to testify against Mr. Hampton while they’re being investigated for their use of force.

Until both investigations can be completed, we’re going to withhold making a final decision about who to charge with what,” Boudin said.

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Gee Mr. Boudin sounds to us like you are fixing to charge the two police officers for protecting themselves from an unprovoked attack with a dangerous weapon.

Internal investigations by the DA’s office are standard protocol after an officer-involved shooting, which they are in a majority of jurisdictions. We don’t know that the DA’s office in those other jurisdictions “remove the case from the calendar” while the IA is pending.

The assailant in the case is currently still in the hospital, having lost one of his legs after the shooting and is said to remain in serious condition.

Montoya says that Boudin’s decision sends the wrong message.

“It’s smoke and mirrors. Mr. Hampton is a free man, so the minute he’s able to walk out of that hospital he can make the next person he runs into the victim like he did Saturday morning December 7th.

The chief of the San Francisco Police Department sent the following message to his officers:

Members of San Francisco’s Finest,

I want to provide you with an update regarding last month’s attack on two of our Mission Station officers in which an officer involved shooting occurred. The District Attorney has informed me that at this time he will withdraw charges against the suspect. The DA indicated that his withdrawal is not a dismissal of the case.

This unprovoked attack was a violent, criminal act. I want you to know that we remain committed to working with the DA to see that justice is done in this case for our officers.

Be Safe out there!

Bill Scott.

In case you’re not familiar with Boudin, let’s introduce you. He was the son of Weather Underground radicals. If you’re not familiar with the Weather Underground, they were a left-wing terrorist organization that was active in the late 60’s and early 70’s. They were responsible for a series of bombings, jailbreaks and riots.

Among their “greatest hits” was the bombing of the U.S. State Department in Washington, DC in January 1975. Just hours later, another bomb was found at a military induction center in Oakland, California. The Weather Underground claimed responsibility for both incidents.

By the next year, the group had claimed responsibility for 25 bombings, which included the U.S. Capitol, the Pentagon, the California Attorney General’s office, and a police station in New York City.

So now, we have the son of radicals running the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office. What could possibly go wrong?

When Boudin was running for election, he used his experiences to “remind voters that more than half of Americans have a family member behind bars.” He also claimed that he was “running for district attorney because I know how to fix it.”

Yes, apparently by releasing criminals that assault police officers. Also, not for nothing Boudin, your 50% of Americans with family members in jail number seems a bit skewed, just saying.  

He also signed on to the Andrew Cuomo “get out of jail free” approach to criminal justice reform. He recently announced that his office was eliminating cash bail as a condition for the pretrial release of defendants from jail.

“For years I’ve been fighting to end this discriminatory and unsafe approach to pretrial detention,” Boudin said. “From this point forward, pretrial detention will be based on public safety, not on wealth.”

That’s working out well in New York, as we’ve reported ad nauseum.  

The shooting on Dec. 7 occurred after Hampton attacked officers with a glass bottle. In video, he can be seen running up to a marked police cruiser after the officer on the passenger side opened the door to speak with him.

KPIX-TV said that police had responded to the area after police received a so-called “hot prowl burglary” in which an adult male forced open an apartment door on the 900 block of Capp Street.

Police arrived approximately five minutes after, however the suspect had fled on foot. As police were investigating that call, a second call came in about a male trying to break into cars. Officers began to search the area and came across Hampton, who matched the physical and clothing descriptions of the suspect.

When officers attempted to contact him, Hampton “aggressively advanced” toward the police cruiser, with a 200ml glass vodka bottle and started attacking the officer on the passenger side.

The driver of the cruiser got out, and went to go to his partner’s aid, when Hampton repeatedly struck him with the bottle in the head and face. The officer received lacerations to his cheek and head and was knocked down after trying to use his impact weapon.

Hampton then chased the injured officer, and which time the second officer drew his sidearm. Both officers had their weapons drawn and gave Hampton verbal commands, but he turned and ran.

Officers then attempted to use pepper spray on Hampton with no success. With the glass bottle still in his hands, he charged at the two police officers. One of them fired at Hampton as he came closer.

Hampton, even after being shot, got back up and started moving toward the other officer, who also discharged his weapon at him. Hampton finally was taken down.

Both officers remained on scene and administered aid to Hampton until the arrival of medical personnel. The injured officer and Hampton were transported to the hospital for treatment.

Only one of the body-worn camera’s footage was released because the second officer’s camera was knocked off in the scuffle with Hampton.

As a result of the shooting, Hampton received life-threatening injuries after being struck three times. He was charged with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon and vandalism by the District Attorney’s Office. Those are the charges that were “dropped” this past week.

Of course, after the shooting, the outrage mob was out in full force, minus Al Sharpton. Friends, family members and Mission District activists were “outraged” by the shooting, saying that Hampton battled addiction and homelessness and was a mentor for at-risk youth. Yup, just the kind of person you want to “mentor at risk youth.”

 Had the two officers been psychics and known that Hampton was such a great guy when he wasn’t assaulting cops with vodka bottles, perhaps this whole episode could have been avoided.

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About The Author

Jenna Curren, Ed.D., is an assistant professor in criminal justice studies. As chair of a CJ advisory board, Jenna actively partners with members of the community to integrate current students into internships and prospective law enforcement careers. Prior to working in academics, Jenna held various custody and treatment positions and was a lieutenant for the CT Department of Correction. Throughout her tenure, she supervised men, women, youth and mental health offenders. A C.E.R.T and honor guard member, as well as a training officer, Jenna has 10 years of experience in the criminal justice and human services fields.

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