City poised to pay $125,000 to settle excessive force claim against Portland police from August 2018 protest

The city of Portland is poised to pay $125,000 to settle an excessive force lawsuit filed by a man who was struck in the head by a flash-bang grenade fired by police during an August 2018 rally.

Aaron Cantu accused Portland police of firing aerial distraction devices, commonly known as flash-bang grenades, into a passive crowd while he was in downtown opposing an Aug. 4, 2018, rally by the right-wing group Patriot Prayer.

Cantu said a police flash-bang grenade struck the back of his head and penetrated his helmet and his skull. He said he suffered a traumatic brain injury.

His injury prompted former Police Chief Danielle Outlaw to halt police use of the flash-bangs that are fired into the air.

The 2018 event attracted more than 1,000 counter-protesters, led to at least three people hospitalized and was eventually declared a civil disturbance by police.

The negotiated settlement follows a ruling in June by U.S. Magistrate Judge Stacie F. Beckerman denying the city’s motion to dismiss the federal suit.

Beckerman also allowed the suit’s allegations to proceed: that Portland police used excessive force against counter-protesters in retaliation for their protected speech and with an intent to chill their speech, while at the same time coordinating plans and security coverage with Patriot Prayer’s Joey Gibson and his supporters.

“The Court finds that Plaintiffs’ allegations are sufficient at the pleading stage to support their claim that Defendants targeted them for their speech,’’ Beckerman wrote earlier this year.

The City Council is set to vote on the settlement at its meeting Wednesday. City risk managers investigated the case and found a “risk the City may be found liable” and recommended adoption of the settlement.

Assistant Deputy City Attorney Michael Jeter had argued that Cantu’s injuries were his own fault, alleging he failed to comply with police commands for the crowd to disperse or interfered or physically resisted officers’ efforts to move the crowd, according to court records.

Officers Zachary Flippo and Dewey Madison were grenadiers with the Police Bureau’s Delta Squad who fired aerial distraction devices above the crowd that day, Jeter wrote in a court filing. Sgt. James Mooney, now retired, was their supervisor, according to court records.

Attorney Juan Chavez, director of the Oregon Justice Resource Center’s civil rights project who represented Cantu, said in June that he hoped the case would help police recognize they can’t “indiscriminately fire into crowds.”

Another plaintiff in the case, James Mattox, settled his claims with the city in June. Mattox, who was seriously injured when he was shot him in the arm with a rubber projectile during the 2018 protest, was to receive nearly $23,000 from the city in an approved settlement.

A third plaintiff in the suit, Tracy Molina, has had her civil claims placed on hold until a separate federal criminal case against her is resolved.

She’s accused of failing to comply with lawful orders and disorderly conduct outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in South Portland on several nights in the fall and winter of 2020, destroying a security camera outside the ICE building on Feb. 27 this year and disorderly conduct at the ICE building on May 5 and May 31. Molina has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

-- Maxine Bernstein

Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com; 503-221-8212

Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian

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