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Trial begins for Patriot Prayer members charged with felony riot in 2019 brawl

Joey Gibson, Mackenzie Lewis and Russell Schultz are accused of initiating a brawl with antifa members outside Cider Riot in Northeast Portland on May 1, 2019.

PORTLAND, Ore. — A brawl outside a Northeast Portland cider pub in 2019 was at the center of a trial that started Monday.

The defendants, Joey Gibson, Mackenzie Lewis and Russell Schultz, appeared in a Multnomah County courtroom to face felony riot charges. All three are affiliated with the Vancouver far-right group Patriot Prayer.

They're accused of initiating a brawl between Patriot Prayer members and far-left antifa members at Cider Riot, a former Northeast Portland pub, on May 1, 2019. 

During opening statements Monday, prosecutors showed jurors videos. In one clip, Gibson can be seen and heard saying, “do something, do something” and “they took the bait.”

"You’ll see Russell Schultz stand shoulder to shoulder with Mr. Gibson as Mr. Lewis is throwing projectiles back into that group of people,” one of the prosecutors.

Gibson is the leader of Patriot Prayer, a group that has hosted rallies in Portland that have attracted white supremacists and white nationalists. At times, those rallies have led to violence.

RELATED: Joey Gibson, five others indicted for felony riot in connection with May Day brawl

Gibson's lawyer said his client was standing on a public sidewalk and after being spat on, kicked and slashed at with a knife, didn't act out violently. The attorney said Gibson instead told people to leave and put their weapons away.

“If they want to fight, we won’t get involved,” Gibson says in a video as two other men fight in the middle of the street. 

Gibson is also heard telling someone nearby not to get involved with the street fight.

During the chaos, a woman was hit in the back of the neck. The state brought that woman, Heather Clark, to the stand as a witness.

“[I] lost complete control of my body, felt like this electric shock through body, became unconscious and I honestly thought I had died,” said Clark.

The defense shared video of Gibson's reaction in the moments right after the incident with Clark and said Gibson’s actions don’t rise to the level of felony riot. He asked jurors to find Gibson not guilty.

RELATED: Cider Riot owner's $1M suit against Patriot Prayer leader Joey Gibson can proceed

In video presented by the defense, Gibson can be heard saying, “What are you doing? Why’d you do that?” He continued, saying “She’s just a girl […] It’s not okay […] She didn’t do anything to you, man.”  

The trial is expected to last all week.

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