PORTLAND, Ore. — UPDATE: The assault suspect, Marquise Lee Love, turned himself in to police on Friday morning and faces felony assault, felony coercion and felony riot charges.
Original story below:
Portland police have identified the suspect in a video seen hundreds of thousands of times on social media that shows a man being violently assaulted in downtown Portland Sunday night.
The video caught the attention of the police chief and the county's top prosecutor, and the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) began an investigation Monday.
On Tuesday police identified the suspect as 25-year-old Marquise Love.
"Investigators made attempts to contact Love but could not locate him," PPB said in a press release Tuesday. "Investigators have left messages for Love to turn himself in but will continue to look for him as there is probable cause for his arrest."
The video, which contains graphic violence and language, shows a group of people attacking a man and pushing him to the ground after his truck had crashed into a light pole downtown. Then the video shows a man kicking the victim in the face while he's sitting on the ground, which apparently knocks him unconscious.
What's still not clear is exactly what led up to the crash. Another video appears to show an earlier incident involving the assault victim's pickup. On Monday, police said they learned the victim may have been trying to help a transgender woman who had things stolen from her.
Because this was such a high-profile case, police say members of the public are attempting to contact Love, and they advise against it as it may lead to a dangerous outcome.
"Also, the information circulating on social media is not always accurate," police said.
False social media reports have claimed the victim in the case is not recovering or has died. To the contrary, police said Tuesday the victim had been released from the hospital and was recovering.
"The Portland Police Bureau is taking this assault and other incidents of violence extremely seriously," Chief Lovell said. "Our detectives continue to investigate this assault as well as other acts of violence directed toward protesters, but we need more than just videos from social media. In order to hold individuals responsible for criminal acts, we need the public to provide information and refrain from tampering with evidence."
Investigators are also trying to find a transgender female who had some of her things stolen near Southwest Taylor Street and 4th Avenue, where the incident began Sunday.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call Det. Brent Christensen at 503-823-2087.
Portland police also sent out the following statement on this case:
PPB understands the high public interest in cases such as these. The release of information may not be as timely as the public would like. Social media platforms make it quick to circulate information but investigators often need to make other connections not seen in videos. Investigators need to protect the integrity of the cases they are assigned in order to present the best case to prosecutors and sometimes an early release of unverified information can hinder that process.