It's hard to say what the worst thing is about Mike Schmidt's tenure as Multnomah County district attorney, but his latest move on his way out the door should secure his spot as the worst DA ever in Portland, Ore.
There are the Antifa and Black Lives Matter violent "protesters" who set downtown Portland on fire and followed up with threats of murder to people who dared to live near a police station. There were threats on the life of former Mayor Ted Wheeler when violent crowds and their threats scared him away from his home. Ninety percent of the people arrested for the "Summer of Love" Antifa and BLM crimes were not even charged by Schimidt's office.
This guy's specialty was attacking churches. Schmidt never charged him and his buddies who targeted churches during the George Floyd riots.
NYPD has arrested a suspect who toppled & destroyed a crucifix at St. Athanasius Church. The suspect also burned an American flag at the church. In Portland, #antifa members specifically targeted churches during riots but were never charged with bias crimes if arrested. pic.twitter.com/3rDwDhJQXV
— Andy Ngo 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) May 22, 2021
So bad is Schmidt, that Multnomah County should retire his number — zero — hoist it outside the "justice center" and invite his Antifa friends to accord it the same respect as they do an American flag.
Antifa burns an American flag in the streets of Portland pic.twitter.com/ahHHQ898Ql
— James Klüg (@realJamesKlug) January 21, 2021
Schmidt lost his job as district attorney in the May primary election. Voters, scared to walk the streets of Portland, gave his tougher-on-crime opponent a clear victory in the primary. Now, in the closing chapter of Schmidt's journey from judicial infamy to political ignominy, he has chosen to flip off Portland voters by attempting to illegally set up early releases for a rogue's gallery of murderers, rapists, and thugs.
He did it using a 2021 Oregon law adopted by the legislature that is tantamount to extra-judicial oversight of convictions and sentences of people convicted of crimes.
KGW describes what the law accomplished:
Senate Bill 819, the source of these reforms, allows a district attorney and someone convicted of a crime to jointly ask a judge to reduce a prison sentence or reconsider their criminal cases. Most resentencing requests are denied, according to the MCDA, and the MCDA has a community advisory board that hears all applications and weighs in before the DA considers a case.
Multiple people, including a man convicted of murder and a man convicted of armed robbery who have spent decades in state prison, were set to have a judge reexamine their sentences on Monday.
The New York Post collected the particulars of one of these blood-lusting losers:
Frank Swopes Jr., who was convicted of felony murder for the death of 75-year-old Jean Stevenson during a December 1993 home invasion, is among the violent offenders Schmidt is seeking to free.
Swopes Jr., 62, went on to commit another violent crime just a week after his accomplice killed Stevenson by pushing her on the floor during the robbery.
In the second robbery, Swopes Jr. tied a 76-year-old woman to her bed, “terrorized” her and “touched her sexually” after breaking into her home, according to court documents reviewed by Oregon Live.
The elderly victim also indicated that she believed Swopes Jr. “either urinated or ejaculated on her” during the home invasion.
Swopes Jr. has served 32 years of a 35-year prison sentence for his crimes.
A judge had a hearing scheduled for Monday, Jan. 6, Schmidt's last day in office, to determine if this latest tranche of prisoners should be released. Apparently, the Oregon appellate judges and the parole board are too busy to do their jobs or something.
Something funny happened on the way to letting this collection of murderers, armed robbers, and other thugs. Someone bothered to look at the law giving victims due notice of the potential release of the bad guy. Oops. Schmidt was obligated to give 30 days' notice but instead gave the victims' families only a few days. Must have been an oversight.
A less generous take is that the worst DA in Multnomah County history thought he'd screw over the people of Portland and surrounding areas one more time before being shown the door.
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