Joey Gibson, the leader of the conservative Patriot Prayer group, sued Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt on Friday, alleging unequal treatment under Schmidt’s recent policy change.
The charges cited included riot.
Gibson’s lawyers are arguing that their client should have his charge dropped in light of the policy change.
“While Defendants willingly allow a group known as Antifa to engage in mass criminal conduct to the detriment of the City of Portland, and intimidate the public and public officials, Defendants continue to prosecute Plaintiffs for violation of the riot statue” despite there being no evidence of a violation, the lawsuit states.
Additionally, prosecutors “have enacted a formal policy of presumptive dismissal of riot charges arising out of protest activity but have selectively refused to apply that formal written policy to Plaintiff’s charges,” which amounts to “selective prosecution,” Gibson’s lawyers added.
A spokesman for the district attorney’s office told The Epoch Times via email Saturday that the office does not comment on pending litigation.
The case against Gibson remains pending before the court, the spokesman said.
Two men associated with Patriot Prayer have entered pleas and were sentenced.
Christopher Ryan Ponte, 38, pleaded no contest to felony riot and was sentenced to 10 days in jail, three years of probation, and banned from protests. Matthew Demetrius Cooper, 24, pleaded guilty to felony riot and was given three years probation and banned from protests.
Schmidt’s new policy has already had far-reaching repercussions.
“The only way to make Portland safe again, is to support a policy that holds offenders accountable for their destruction and violence," Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts said in a statement.
“That will require the DA to charge offenders appropriately and a decision by the Multnomah County Presiding Judge not to allow offenders released on their own recognizance, and instead require bail with conditions.”
