PORTLAND, Ore. — A Texas man was sentenced to federal prison on Monday for assaulting a Deputy U.S. Marshal with a hammer during a 2020 protest in downtown Portland. Jacob Gaines, 24, was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release.
According to court documents, around 1 a.m. on July, 11, 2020, Gaines used a hammer to break through a barricaded entrance at the Mark O. Hatfield Federal Courthouse. Federal law enforcement were staged inside the courthouse on Southeast 3rd Avenue to protect the building. Deputy U.S. Marshals tried to prevent Gaines from trespassing and Gaines struck a marshal three times with the hammer, court documents said. The deputy was hit in the left shoulder, lower neck and upper back. He was able to hold onto Gaines while other officers arrested him.
On July 12, 2020, Gaines was charged with one count of assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon. Several days later, on July 16, a federal grand jury indicted Gaines on the same charge and he pleaded guilty on Sept. 8, 2021.
"Mr. Gaines’ actions in July 2020 were intentional, dangerous, and could have severely injured or killed the Deputy U.S. Marshal who confronted him. His assault on a federal officer justifies the lengthy prison sentence imposed today," said Scott Erik Asphaug, the acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.
Gaines has been in custody since his arrest the night of the attack on July 11.
Protesters held demonstrations in downtown Portland during summer 2020 following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
