A Texas man is facing assault charges after he allegedly struck a federal law enforcement officer multiple times with a construction hammer during weekend protests in downtown Portland, Oregon, authorities said.
Police arrested 23-year-old Jacob Michael Gaines, who is originally from Texas but had been residing in a recreational vehicle in Portland, on July 11.
Attorney Billy J. Williams announced on Monday that Gaines was charged by criminal complaint with one count of assaulting a U.S. Marshals Service deputy, according to a statement from the Attorney’s Office District of Oregon.
The suspect made his first court appearance on Monday and has since been released until his next court appearance, officials said.
The assault occurred on July 11 around 1:00 a.m. outside the Mark O. Hatfield Courthouse, after a demonstration in downtown Portland turned violent. Officers responded to reports that an individual was attempting to break down a door of the federal courthouse with a hammer, police said.
“Federal law enforcement personnel were staged inside the courthouse to protect the facility and respond to incidents. Law enforcement attempted to exit the courthouse to prevent Gaines from breaching the barricaded entrance,” the office noted.
“While attempting to detain him, Gaines struck a U.S. Marshals Service deputy three times with the hammer. The deputy deflected the blows to prevent serious injury, but in process was struck in the left shoulder, lower neck, and upper back,” it continues. “While being struck, the deputy managed to hold onto Gaines while other officers handcuffed him and placed him under arrest.”
Police recovered the hammer used by Gaines and posted an image of the nearly 16 inch, 4 pound construction hammer on the bureau’s Twitter page.
Footage released by police from the scene near the courthouse showed a crowd along SW 3rd Avenue between SW Main and SW Salmon Streets, and two lit fires.
“People lit fires in trash cans and dumpsters but no structures were threatened. The crowd finally dispersed by about 3:20 a.m.,” police said.
Rioters have increasingly targeted federal properties in Portland, including the federal courthouse, amid ongoing protests since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody on May 25.
The federal courthouse was targeted just days earlier, resulting in the arrest of seven people on charges that include assault on law enforcement officers, destruction of federal property, and other disorderly conduct related to riots at the building.
All seven defendants were released pending trial after their first appearances in federal court on July 6.
In a July 7 statement, U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon Billy J. Williams said that the courthouse has been “a repeated target of vandalism, sustaining extensive damage.”
Law enforcement officers who have been working to protect the courthouse have been subjected to “threats; aerial fireworks including mortars; high-intensity lasers targeting officers’ eyes; [and] thrown rocks, bottles, and balloons filled with paint from demonstrators while performing their duties,” the statement added.
Last week, Portland Deputy Police Chief Chris Davis said that the weeks of nightly violent demonstrations in the city have caused an estimated $23 million in damage and lost customers to downtown businesses.
Epoch Times reporter Isabel van Brugen contributed to this report.