Portland Police Arrest Black Lives Matter Activist Demetria Hester During Sunday Night Protest

Demetria Hester, a Black Lives Matter activist who was the victim of a 2017 hate crime committed by one of Oregon's most notorious killers, was arrested along with 15 other protesters Sunday night in North Portland.

Portland police declared a riot shortly after 10 pm on Sunday, after protesters gathered around the Portland Police Association headquarters on North Lombard Street. Police say protesters attempted to barricade the streets with dumpsters, and that some threw eggs and fireworks at the officers.

After 11 pm, police bull-rushed the crowd and arrested 16 people, including Hester.

Hester was charged with two misdemeanors: disorderly conduct and interfering with a peace officer. She was held in the Multnomah County Jail and scheduled to be arraigned Monday afternoon. She was released shortly after 1 pm today. Shortly thereafter, the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office announced that it declined to prosecute Hester. All charges have been dropped.

Hester, who leads Mothers United for Black Lives Matter, is also a victim of a hate crime. Jeremy Christian, who murdered two people on a MAX train in 2017 and critically wounded another, assaulted Hester the night prior to the fatal incident. (He hit her in the face with a Gatorade bottle; she responded by spraying him with Mace.) In February, jurors determined that Christian's attack on Hester was racially motivated.

Hester said the police who responded to the attack didn't take her seriously or arrest Christian. "How am I supposed to feel protected when we just watched him walk away?" she recalled telling an officer.