PORTLAND, Ore. — As of Tuesday afternoon, pro-Palestinian protesters continued to occupy the Millar Library at Portland State University. They'd set up signs and barricades, blocking the entrance, with some reports of graffiti spray-painted on the building's walls and at least one window broken.
The night prior, officials from the city, county and the university held a press conference to address the situation. PSU President Ann Cudd said she'd asked the Portland Police Bureau to step in after requests from administrators that protesters vacate the library went unheeded.
The PSU campus was closed and classes canceled Tuesday. Photos taken Wednesday show damage inside the PSU library, including shattered panes of glass, graffiti and the use of tables and chairs as makeshift barricades throughout the building.
Among the speakers at Monday night's press conference was Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt, the top local law enforcement officer in the county. His office determines, to a certain extent, how and when crimes are prosecuted.
Depending on how the PSU protest is resolved, Schmidt could find his office tasked with prosecuting dozens of protest-related arrests — a potential sore spot for a man running for reelection as a progressive candidate in 2024.
Flashbacks to 2020
Schmidt's first very public brush with protest-related prosecutions came during the summer of 2020, as nightly protests and periodic riots hammered downtown Portland and other parts of the city in the wake of George Floyd's murder.
With the justice system hampered by COVID-19 precautions and the DA's office already facing literally hundreds of protest-related cases, Schmidt made the controversial decision not to prosecute the vast majority of cases, particularly those for non-violent offenses.
"This policy acknowledges that the factors that lead to the commission of criminal activity during a protest are incredibly complex," Schmidt said at the time. "The protesters are angry, yes — deeply frustrated with what they perceive to be structural inequities in our basic social fabrics. And this frustration can escalate to levels that violate the law.
"Some of those violations are impermissible by any standard, resulting in physical violence, injury and worse. Others represent the instinctive reactions of people who have been gassed repeatedly, who have been struck with kinetic projectile weapons and who have seen other protesters arrested in ways that they deeply disapprove of."
Specifically, Schmidt decided that his office would not prosecute anyone charged with interfering with a peace officer, second-degree disorderly conduct, first- and second-degree criminal trespass, and riot unless it was accompanied by a more serious charge.
Between May 2020 and May 2021, police referred 1,098 protest-related cases to the Multnomah County District Attorney's office, according to DA's office data. Most of those occurred in the first few months, from June to September 2020.
Schmidt's office rejected 895 of those cases and "issued" 197 — meaning they pursued prosecution. A handful of other cases were still pending the last time this DA's office data was updated in 2022.
According to that data, 64% of cases were rejected "in the interest of justice," meaning they were covered by Schmidt's policy. Another 10% were dropped for insufficient evidence, 6% needed follow-up, and 2% were dropped due to a "legal impediment." In all, 17% were issued.
The DA's office noted that 989 of all referred crimes were for public order crimes, 178 for person crimes, 133 property crimes, 33 weapons crimes, 27 vehicular crimes, 16 arson or burning crimes and seven drug crimes. There were more crimes than cases because some individuals were charged with multiple crimes.
Almost immediately, Schmidt's decision drew criticism from his opponents, and it's been a common refrain from critics ever since — although it often lacks the context that these dropped charges were ones not directly involving violence or property damage, and that dozens of protest-related cases were prosecuted by the Multnomah County DA's office.
Schmidt's challenger in the 2024 race, Senior Deputy District Attorney Nathan Vasquez, has accused Schmidt of being soft on crime, and has faulted Schmidt for hurting the relationship between police and the DA's office, in part by dropping those charges.
Then and now
During Monday night's press conference, Schmidt made clear that he's prepared to prosecute crimes stemming from the PSU protests, assuming there's sufficient evidence to do so.
"Our educational institutions deserve to be safe spaces and for our students and campuses to be able to function without fear or threats of intimidation or violence," Schmidt said. "While all of us up here are committed to working to protect freedom of speech, the actions taking place today with the occupation of the library have crossed the line into criminal behavior.
"I want to thank our law enforcement partners for their response and attention to this matter. They have my full support. I echo (Police Chief Bob Day's) directive to vacate the premises. Let me be clear: We will prosecute the cases, pending review of evidence, of course, that is able to be collected and provided by law enforcement.
"I expect that felony charges could be filed, depending on what evidence we gather, including burglary and felony criminal mischief, along with other potential misdemeanors. I will review those cases as we receive them, and my office will be happy to provide updates on charges that we are able to issue."
Notably, the specific charges listed by Schmidt on Monday are not the same as those dismissed during the 2020 protests, although he did make non-specific mention of misdemeanors.