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Update, 4:15 pm: Portland police have confirmed the death of Sean D. Kealiher, 23. They say he was killed by blunt force trauma from the SUV, and was the person driven to the hospital.
"After the crash, the patient suffered critical injuries," police said in a statement. "Associates of the victim placed him into a personal vehicle and transported him to the hospital, where doctors attempted lifesaving measures. The victim did not survive. "
Police say they are investigating the crash as a homicide.
Sources tell WW that Kealiher went by the name "Armenio" in activist circles. The racial-justice advocacy group Don't Shoot Portland says it is building a memorial to him on Northeast 9th Avenue and Davis Street.
The Democratic Party of Oregon has confirmed that the building hit by the SUV was its office.
Original post, 1:28 pm: A leftist activist is believed dead after a hit-and-run near Cider Riot, an antifascist nightspot in Northeast Portland.
Portland police say an SUV crashed into a side of a commercial building at Northeast 8th Avenue and Northeast Davis Street at roughly 12:14 am today. That location is less than a block from Cider Riot. Police arriving on the scene found the vehicle abandoned, but gunshots had been fired into it.
A few minutes later, police say, an injured person was dropped off at a nearby hospital. Police did not say whether that person was the driver or the person hit by the SUV, but a source familiar with the events tells WW they believe it was the latter.
Multiple sources tell WW that the SUV hit a leftist activist who was a regular patron of Cider Riot. He is believed dead.
Police would not confirm the death. "The nature of the injuries and the condition of that patient is not being released pending further investigation," the bureau said in a statement.
WW has also learned that two people have been taken into custody in relation to the case—but neither are believed to be the driver. Police have not released any information on arrests.
Juan Chavez, the attorney for Cider Riot owner Abram Goldman-Armstrong, says Goldman-Armstrong knew the victim.
"He doesn't know if this was a targeted attack," Chavez says. "He would like to extend his condolences to the family, and express his sadness at the loss of the victim. He knew him. He was a patron of the cidery."
Chavez says Goldman-Armstrong left Cider Riot shortly after 11 pm, and does not recall seeing the victim in the cidery last night. Cider Riot was hosting a soul-music show.
Cider Riot was previously a site of a violent attack by far-right extremists on May 1. Joey Gibson, the leader of Patriot Prayer, among others, faces felony riot charges over the violence that day.
Gibson also faces a $1 million suit in Multnomah Circuit Court filed by Goldman-Armstrong over Gibson's alleged effort to incite violence there. There is no evidence to suggest that Gibson or his associates were involved in last night's crash.