PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Patriot Prayer leader Joey Gibson pushed a woman, taunted a number of people and physically threatened others in the May Day brawl outside Cider Riot, court documents obtained by KOIN 6 News revealed.
The affadavit from Deputy DA Brad Kalbaugh lays out a series of events from that day that were witnessed by a plain clothes officer and later by a detective looking at “numerous video clips” that were “readily obtainable on the internet via numerous sources.”
The plain clothes officer heard Patriot Prayer members talk about wanting to get into a fight with Antifa supporters at Cider Riot in Northeast Portland. He went and saw about 15 Patriot Prayer members arguing with about 50 Antifa supporters in the outdoor seating.
In the melee, a woman named Heather Clark was knocked unconscious. Before she was knocked out, Gibson is seen on video pushing her. That happened moments after Gibson and other Patriot Prayer members — some of whom also face charges — taunted and threatened Antifa members “in an effort to clearly provoke a physical altercation,” the court document states.
Mackenzie Lewis, Christopher Ponte, Matthew Cooper and Ian Kramer — who is accused of knocking out Heather Clark — also face charges related to the brawl.
On August 27, Gibson pleaded not guilty to a felony riot charge. He was booked at the Multnomah County Detention Center on $5,000 bail, posted bail a few hours later and was released.
He told KOIN 6 News he believes the felony riot charge is politically motivated and an attempt by the city of Portland to ban him from the streets.
The maximum sentence for conviction on felony riot — a Class C felony — is 5 years in prison.
The owner of Cider Riot, Abram Goldman-Armstrong, filed a $1 million lawsuit against Patriot Prayer and its leader Joey Gibson over the brawl.
Goldman-Armstrong Gibson, Kramer and 25 others who he claims were involved in the incident. The lawsuit accuses them of negligence, trespass and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
According to the lawsuit, Kramer hit Cider Riot patron Heather Clark and knocked her unconscious. The lawsuit also accuses Gibson of harassing and menacing patrons at the pub and facilitating a street fight between 2 people, which he live streamed.