A protester seriously injured when a Portland police officer shot him in the arm with a rubber projectile during a 2018 demonstration will receive nearly $23,000 from the city.
The Portland City Council on Wednesday approved the payment to James Mattox, one of three protesters who sued the city after being injured by police while opposing an Aug. 4, 2018 rally downtown by right-wing group Patriot Prayer. The event attracted more than 1,000 counterprotesters, led to at least three people hospitalized and was eventually declared a civil disturbance by police.
Two of those who sued still have active cases against the city: Aaron Cantu, who suffered a traumatic brain injury after being hit in the head with a flash-bang grenade, and Tracy Molina, who said an officer grabbed a sign she was holding and knocked her down into the street, which then prompted other officers to tackle and arrest her.
The charges against Molina were dismissed that following April, court records show.
Cantu was wearing a helmet when he was hit and the projectile partially went through it.
The Portland Police Bureau announced two days after the event that they were suspending the use of flash-bangs, referred to by the agency as aerial distraction devices.
Mattox said in his lawsuit he was walking backwards down Southwest Columbia Street, flipping off officers and yelling profanity at them, when one of them fired a rubber bullet at his thigh. Mattox, now 31, said he picked it up, held the projectile in the air and yelled, “Look, you missed!”
He said the same officer shot him with another projectile and hit him in the arm he was using to hold the item aloft. The strike caused a large gash. Mattox was treated by a volunteer medic in the crowd.
Rob Yamachika, senior deputy city attorney, told the City Council that Mattox would receive $10,000 from the settlement and the rest would go toward attorney fees.
-- Everton Bailey Jr; ebailey@oregonian.com | 503-221-8343 | @EvertonBailey
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