The Department of Justice (DOJ) has reportedly dropped charges against more than half of Portland rioters accused of committing crimes during BLM and Antifa protests in the spring and summer of 2020.
48 out of 90 people facing charges saw their cases dropped last week. According to The Epoch Times, among the dropped cases were an assault of a federal officer, destruction of government property, and failing to obey a lawful order.
The Trends Journal has previously reported a striking double standard in the Federal treatment of widespread violence and criminal conduct of leftist protesters in 2020 vs. the crackdown on right-leaning protestors who gathered in Washington on 6 January 2021.
More than 500 6 January protesters have been jailed for months. And aggressive and even bizarre intelligence operations including ICOP, run out of the U.S. Postal Service, have targeted Trump supporters and conservatives in general.
At the time leftists protests were burning down and looting districts of cities across the country and declaring “autonomous” zones in Portland and Seattle, Feds promised criminal violators would face prosecution.
“Make no mistake: those who commit violence in the name of protest, will be investigated, arrested, prosecuted, and face prison time,” U.S. Attorney Billy Williams said in a statement at the time. But Williams, a Trump appointee, resigned in 2021 after the inauguration of Joe Biden.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office is claiming the bulk dismissals of charges are not what they appear to be by the numbers of dropped charges.
“Dismissals are very case-specific and based on our assessment of available evidence. If we do not believe we can prove a charge beyond a reasonable doubt, we will dismiss the case,” a spokesman for the office said.
As Feds have trouble gathering evidence despite hundreds of millions of damage caused by 2020 rioters, they did find time to travel to the Alaskan home of Marilyn Heuper on 6 May.
The FBI raided Heuper’s home, confiscating computers, cell phones, and other items. They told her they were “searching for Nancy Pelosi’s laptop.” According to multiple news outlets, the FBI raid, based on a dubious tip that Heuper “resembled” someone in a video taken during the Capitol riots, turned out to be a likely error.
