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Police Release Info on Political Affiliations During Scandal Over Protest-Related Texts

On February 14, the Willamette Week and Portland Mercury each published stories revealing a series of text messages in which Portland Police Lieutenant Jeff Niiya displayed a cozy relationship with alt-right Patriot Prayer leader Joey Gibson. Many in the community-- including several members of City Council-- expressed righteous anger that the officer warned a known violent associate of Gibson's not to show up or he'd be arrested on warrants, and alerted Gibson when counter-protestors were nearby. Niiya also applauded Gibson's (eventually failed) run for US Senate, and Gibson relayed he'd told his followers the police "have our back." Lost in the shuffle are the likely violations of the law which led to the City pulling out of the Joint Terrorism Task Force the day before this news broke (above): ORS 181A.250, which prevents gathering information on political affiliations with no reasonable suspicion of criminal conduct. An email sent to Niiya listed names of people allegedly involved in the anti-fascist movement ("Antifa") and others involved with Patriot Prayer and its affiliates. The email did not allege those people had committed any crime.

If the City Attorney were doing effective training on state law, Niiya or one of the cops to whom he forwarded that email would have said "hey, we shouldn't collect a list like this." Instead, Criminal Intelligence Unit Sgt. Pete Simpson replied "Thanks, we got it already," meaning he also received the email from someone feeding this unsupported information to police.

On the afternoon of February 21, Portland Copwatch (PCW) released a statement expressing concerns about the texting scandal in advance of a "listening session" set up by the Chief and Mayor at Maranatha Church in NE Portland. PCW warned "such a list released without redaction can have serious consequences for the people whose names are listed, one of the reasons law enforcement should not keep such lists." Testifying at the session, two people said after their names were released in the emails, they received death threats.

The session devolved into shouting matches between right-wing and left-wing protestors. Each person was limited to two minutes to talk, allowing various perspectives to be shared. Many people focused on the police treatment of Patriot Prayer reflecting how officers show up at confrontational protests and turn their backs on the (armed) alt-right while facing down, then attacking the left with various weapons (PPR #76). The facilitator kept interrupting to tell people to propose solutions, but at a listening session, people needed to say what they wanted. PCW read from our statement on how officers can connect with people planning protests without feigning friendship, keeping a cordial and professional distance. We noted our parent group Peace and Justice Works has worked with community member liaisons to police for permitted marches, and that PCW meets with the Chief and other officials, but never puts personal relationships over institutional analysis.

The Portland Police Commanding Officers' Association (PPCOA), which represents Lieutenants, quickly condemned Mayor Wheeler for questioning Niiya coddling the agitators from Vancouver, WA. PPCOA President Craig Morgan alleged the Mayor violated a contract clause protecting officers from being "embarrassed," and pointed out Niiya had also fostered a friendly relationship with a leftist activist in 2017 (Oregonian, February 20). While true, that person was an unseasoned activist who ended up being shunned by the movement. Her case is as much about our community needing to reinforce the reasons for Miranda warnings as police over-reach. There is a reason that "you have a right to remain silent." Lawyers who help us deliver "Your Rights and the Police" seminars give the same advice: never talk to police. Right wing activists who support the state using violence to enforce its policies naturally gravitate toward the police, while leftists avoid them-- or at least will not praise them without caveats. Morgan and "experts" talking with the media said Niiya was using normal police protocol and good judgment by creating a trusting relationship with the alt- right. With an investigation ongoing, Niiya was moved from the Rapid Response Team to... Professional Standards, which is conducting the investigaton (Oregonlive, April 5).

The morning of the session, the PPB released more info showing Niiya also texted with a liaison for an antifascist protest in June 2017, warning him when masked Antifa folks were coming. There were texts with at least one other progressive activist who did not have an interest in submitting to the police's restrictions on First Amendment activities. PCW is not naming them, even though the police released their names and phone numbers to the public. We will keep readers posted on outcomes.

Protestor Loses Force Suit
On April 12, a jury found Officer Adi Ramic (#51049) did not intentionally break activist Peggy Zebroski's nose at a Don't Shoot Portland protest in 2017 (PPR #74). The ACLU is considering an appeal.

May, 2019
Also in PPR #77

Portland Copwatch
PO Box 42456
Portland, OR 97242
(503) 236-3065/ Incident Report Line (503) 321-5120
e-mail: copwatch@portlandcopwatch.org

Portland Copwatch is a grassroots, volunteer organization promoting police accountability through citizen action.

People's Police Report #77 Table of Contents
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