PORTLAND, Ore. — Cider Riot, the Northeast Portland pub that became ground zero for court battles related to the country's political division, will close Nov. 9.
Beervana first reported the news earlier this week. Owner Abram Goldman Armstrong told the site he made the decision after determining he couldn't find investors to purchase the business.
Goldman Armstrong had started the business from his North Tabor home in 2013. He'd hoped to eventually expand the cidery's presence overseas before making the decision last summer to sell.
Cider Riot was the site for a May 1 brawl in which a woman, in a politically motivated attack, was allegedly beaten with a baton, knocked unconscious and had one of her vertebrae fractured. Patriot Prayer far-right supporters were arrested in August.
In a May interview with the Business Journal, Goldman Armstrong said he merely set out to open a welcoming spot.
"That was something we've made very clear was part of our vision, like when we were opening the pub: We wanted to be a place for the community to use and gather and hang out," he said. "And you know, that's something that’s a longstanding tradition of the pub, as a place for people to come in and get together. And we wanted it to be welcoming to people of all races, genders, and identities. And it’s unfortunate that those values put us in the crosshairs of a hate group. It’s bizarre that human decency, being open and welcoming to people is now seen as an extremist view. I don't think it’s extreme to believe everybody should have equal rights."
Goldman eventually filed suit against Gibson and other Patriot Prayer members. The filing was one of the region's largest over the past year.