An Antifa rioter in Portland who was arrested three separate times for assaulting police officers during riots had his charges dismissed “with prejudice,” meaning no charges connected with the crime will ever be brought against him.
Eva Warner of Beaverton, Oregon, who police said was also known as Joshua Warner, was arrested three times in August 2020 and released without bail. He had been accused of shining a laser into the eyes of police — an extraordinarily dangerous assault given the potential for blindness.
Portland Police said Warner directed a high-powered laser into the eyes of law enforcement officers trying to disperse the crowd. Warner resisted arrest, prompting officers to use force, the DOJ said. A laser pointer was found on Warner.
Warner was booked into custody and charged with intentionally obstructing, impeding, interfering with law enforcement officers engaged in official duties but later released without bail.
About a week later, Warner was arrested again and charged with second-degree criminal mischief in connection with another riot. Warner was again released from custody without bail.
On September 2, Warner was arrested in a southeast Portland apartment as part of a federal investigation. He appeared in court before a U.S. magistrate judge the next day and was later released pending further court proceedings.
Warner was looking at five years in prison if convicted. Instead, the prosecutor never brought the case to trial, and Warner had his case dismissed by Scott Erik Asphaug, acting U.S. attorney for the District of Oregon on December 21.
The motion noted that the defendant had performed “at least 30 hours of community service.”
The next day, U.S. District Court Judge Michael H. Simon dismissed Warner’s indictment “with prejudice,” according to court documents obtained by Fox News.
Fox News has reached out to Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon Thomas S. Ratcliffe as well as the Portland Police Association. Warner’s attorney was not available for comment.
Just to contrast the treatment of Warner with the legal jeopardy of J6 rioters, earlier in December, one January 6 rioter charged with assaulting a police officer found himself looking at the next five years behind bars for his crime.
Robert Palmer, 54, of Largo, Florida, wept as he told U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan that he recently watched a video of his actions that day and could not believe what he was seeing.
“Your honor. I’m really really ashamed of what I did,” he said through tears.
Palmer was one of several rioters sentenced on Friday in District of Columbia court for their actions that day, when the angry mob descended to disrupt the certification of Joe Biden’s victory following a rally by then-President Donald Trump. Scores of police were beaten and bloodied, five people died and there was about $1.5 million in damage done to the U.S. Capitol.
Maybe if Palmer had performed community service, he might have avoided jail time — except it’s very difficult to perform community service from a jail cell.
The message is being sent loud and clear: No one cares in Portland if you try to blind a police officer during a riot ostensibly about “police brutality.” As long as you express the proper political sentiment with your actions, you can get away with just about anything.
In truth, both Palmer and Warner should serve time in jail. That Mr. Warner finds himself a free man today is a disgusting miscarriage of justice.
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