A tough-on-crime prosecutor’s office is weighing its options after a court dismissed violent charges against a Portland Antifa activist.
Multnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vasquez’s office told the Daily Caller News Foundation it plans to “reissue charges” against Isabel Rosa Araujo, who was allegedly captured on video spraying mace on a protester last July. Araujo was born male but identifies as female. Attorney Josephine Moberg, who was Araujo’s public defender, successfully had his jury trial dismissed over procedural disputes before it was set to begin Tuesday, the Post Millennial reported.
Video evidence allegedly shows Araujo in his signature black outfit confronting a woman who accused him of guarding “Hamas supporters” at a protest on July 13 in a Portland park. In the video, the Antifa activist tells her to “get the f*** out” of the public park before spraying her with mace. Araujo was charged with fourth-degree assault, harassment, and unlawful use of mace over the incident.
Araujo, 39, of Portland, was captured on video launching an unprovoked macing attack on a female counter protester at a Portland park in March 2024. pic.twitter.com/wTNLajjG4C
— Katie Daviscourt 📸 (@KatieDaviscourt) January 21, 2025
Moberg requested that Judge Adrian Lee Brown dismiss the case based on alleged issues with the discovery process. The DCNF left a voicemail to Moberg’s office at the Metropolitan Public Defender’s Office but did not receive a response.
Moberg, on her X bio, is a self-described “climate, animal liberation, anti-policing, and anti-border organizer living on stolen Chinook land.” (RELATED: ‘Fight Fascism!’: Left-Wing Groups With History Of Violent Protest Involvement Recruiting Ahead Of Inauguration)
Vasquez’s office did not comment on when or if it would refile charges.
Vasquez ran on a tough-on-crime platform and beat his progressive challenger Mike Schmidt in 2024. Vasquez started the campaign as a Republican before becoming an independent.
Araujo’s release from court comes after Antifa militants set fires outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Portland on Monday to protest President Donald Trump’s hardline border policies. The black-clothed activists surrounded and tried to intimidate law enforcement officers working to put out the fires, the Post Millennial reported. No arrests were made.
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