Culture & Society

Entire team of Portland officers resign from ‘riot squad’ when colleague is indicted over BLM battle

June 17, 2021 | | Print Article

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A team of  Portland, Oregon police officers who respond to disobedience, protests and riots has reportedly disbanded in response to one of their fellow officers being indicted for allegedly assaulting a Black Lives Matter rioter last year.

On Tuesday, a grand jury indicted Portland Police Bureau Ofc. Corey Budworth, a member of the department’s voluntary Rapid Response Team, on fourth-degree assault charges as per allegations he attacked a rioter during the violent riots of last summer.

“Earlier this afternoon, my office filed a criminal assault charge against Portland Police Officer Corey Budworth stemming from what we allege to be an excessive and unlawful use of force on August 18, 2020 during a political protest,” Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt, a Democrat, announced in a statement.

He went on to accuse Budworth of having “crossed” a line and having used “excessive” force that “lacks a justification.”

The charge against Budworth stems from what happened on Aug. 18th, when, in response to violent rioting, the Rapid Response Team was forced to conduct several “legal” arrests.

While doing this, it appears they were continually pestered by left-wing activists like Teri Jacobs, who can be seen toward the end of the clip below standing with her “shield” only feet away from several officers who were in the middle of an arrest:

The confrontation between her and the officers eventually ended with Budworth allegedly pushing Jacobs to the ground and then allegedly hitting her with a baton.

Watch:

Responding to Budworth’s indictment, the Portland Police Association union called the prosecution politically driven.

“Unfortunately, this decorated public servant has been caught in the crossfire of agenda-driven city leaders and a politicized criminal justice system. He faced a violent and chaotic, rapidly evolving situation, and he used the lowest level of baton force — a push; not a strike or a jab — to remove Ms. Jacobs from the area,” the union said in a statement, according to the Associated Press.

In a separate statement to KATU, PPA executive director Daryl Turner said that the video footage from the scene doesn’t tell the full story. He also defended Budworth’s baton maneuver.

“As Officer Budworth cleared Ms. Jacobs from the area to stop her criminal activity, Ms. Jacobs fell to the ground,” he said.

“Reasonably believing that she was getting back up to re-engage in her unlawful activities, Officer Budworth employed one last baton push to try and keep her on the ground, which accidentally struck Ms. Jacobs in the head. The location of Officer Budworth’s last baton push was accidental, not criminal,” Turner added.

Listen to some of his remarks below:

Police Bureau chief Chuck Lovell seemingly took the opposite stance.

“Law enforcement is held to a higher standard and must constantly strive to live up to that standard,” he said in a statement.

Late Wednesday evening and early Friday morning, local conservative radio show host Lars Larson reported via Twitter that, according to his sources, the PPB’s entire Rapid Response Team has “resigned their spots in the voluntary assignment” because of Budworth’s indictment.

He also echoed their claim that the prosecution is politically motivated and, as evidence, he noted that Budworth had originally been “cleared of any violation of dept. rules & training.”

Look:

Notice how he accused Schmidt of being a wannabe “Social Justice Warrior DA.”

After the devastating riots last summer, Schmidt reportedly dropped charges against 70 percent of apprehended rioters. But in Budworth’s case, he decided to go the opposite route.

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Vivek Saxena
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