PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A man is being sued for $250,000 after allegedly shooting a woman in the chest with a paintball gun during a pro-Trump rally in Portland.
According to court documents, Meg McLain says she was peacefully observing a rally outside the Justice Center on the afternoon of August 22. Shortly before 1 p.m., a man at the rally, identified as Alan Swinney, allegedly “opened fire” and intentionally shot her in the chest with a paintball. In the lawsuit she filed on Monday, McLain says this caused her pain, discomfort, distress and interfered with daily life activities.
Read the full lawsuit at the bottom of this article
Court documents included a photo of a paint-stained jacket McLain was wearing at the time along with a photo of a large, red welt on one of McLain’s breasts, which she says was a result of the paintball.
McLain attests that she quickly notified police of the incident but they did not arrest Swinney. Documents also included a screenshot of a social media post they say is from Swinney — in which he says, in part, “Whoever’s in charge in Portland can f—- all the way off. You’re not going to tell me how I can defend myself.”
The lawsuit alleges Swinney has shown a previous history of irresponsible gun ownership, such as “traveling to Oregon to organize substantial and purposefully violent rallies and events.”
The rally the incident allegedly occured at brought out hundreds of people — eventually prompting federal officers to declare an unlawful assembly at Terry Schrunk Plaza. This followed hours of dueling demonstrations between right-wing and left-wing protesters in the downtown area.
Demonstrations first started outside the Justice Center on SW 3rd Avenue. A rally organized by members of right-wing groups including Proud Boys was met by counter-protesters around 12:15 pm. Several afternoon skirmishes turned violent, with demonstrators hurling rocks and other items at each other and getting into fights.
One protester filmed a woman being punched allegedly by a member of the Proud Boys.
This is a developing story. KOIN 6 News will continue to follow it.
Full lawsuit