Tough-on-crime prosecutors are weighing their options after a court dismissed violence charges against antifa activists in Portland.
Multnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vasquez's office told the Daily Caller News Foundation that Isabel Rosa Araujo was allegedly captured on video spraying demonstrators with mace last July. He said he plans to “prosecute again.” Araujo was born male but identifies as female. Araujo's public defender, Josephine Moberg, successfully completed the jury trial. was fired over a procedural dispute before it begins on Tuesday. The Postmillennial newspaper reported.
Video evidence shows Mr. Araujo, wearing a distinctive black outfit, with a woman who accused him of guarding “Hamas supporters” at a protest in a Portland park on July 13. It is said that the footage shows them confronting each other. In the video, an Antifa activist instructs her to “kick the f**kers out” from a public park before spraying her with mace. Araujo was charged with fourth-degree assault, harassment and unlawful use of mace in connection with the incident.
Araujo, 39, of Portland, was captured on video in March 2024 launching an unprovoked mating attack on a female counter-protester in a Portland park. pic.twitter.com/wTNLajjG4C
— Katie Daviscourt 📸 (@KatieDaviscourt) January 21, 2025
Moberg asked Judge Adrian Lee Brown to dismiss the case, citing problems with the discovery process. DCNF left a voicemail with Moberg's office at the Metropolitan Public Defender's Office, but there was no response.
In Moberg's X profile, self-introduction “Climate Change, Animal Liberation, Anti-Police, and Anti-Border Organizers Living on Stolen Chinook Land.” (Related article: “Fight against fascism!'': Left-wing group with history of violent protests seeks talent ahead of inauguration ceremony)
Mr. Vasquez's office would not comment on when or if he would be charged again.
Vazquez ran on a tough-on-crime platform and defeated progressive challenger Mike Schmidt in 2024. Vazquez previously campaigned as a Republican. Become an independent person.
Araujo's release comes after Antifa militants set a fire outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Portland on Monday in protest of President Donald Trump's hard-line border policies. Activists in black surrounded law enforcement officers working to extinguish the fire and attempted to intimidate them. The Postmillennial newspaper reported. No arrests were made.
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