Justice Denied: Damien Rodriguez (pt.1)
On the evening of Friday, April 21, 2017, Sergeant Major Damien Thomas Rodriguez entered DarSalam, an Iraqi restaurant in Portland. At his side was a retired fellow Marine whose identity remains unknown. News reports vary widely as to how long they were there, but one thing was sure - they spent their time berating wait staff rather than ordering. Rodriguez doesn’t remember any of it, either because he was blackout drunk or he was caught in a trauma-fueled fugue state.
Whether it happened minutes into their tirade or nearly an hour, at some point Damien “said loudly that he had to get out of the restaurant.” Whether he was coming to his senses or simply nauseas we’ll never know, but witnesses told police he “tried to go through a side door but found it locked, so he stood, wringing his hands.” To my ears, that’s an anxious combat veteran whose egress has been blocked. There is no excuse, however, for what happened next.
Intoxicated and seeing no escape, Damien Rodriguez picked up a chair and hurled it with all his might at the nearest employee, Badran Hamood.
Officer Jordan Winkel of the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) arrived and arrested Damien at 8:56pm local time. With “no conviction history,” he was “Release[d] on Recognizance” after posting bail the following morning. He faced three charges;
second degree Disorderly Conduct
Misdemeanor Harassment
second degree Intimidation
He was ordered to appear in court on May 16th, but he’d be found guilty long before his day in court…
Lizzy Acker of The Oregonian was the first to run a story, the day after his arrest was filed, on April 25th. The headline read “Marine charged with hate crime in attack at Portland Iraqi restaurant,” and the URL included a reference to PTSD, which Damien had disclosed to Officer Winkel. There was just one problem; The Oregonian headline is false and misleading.
Not only does “hate crime” not appear in the charge sheet, there’s never been any such law in all of the Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS). There’s the federal Hate Crimes Prevention Act (HCPA) of 2009, but no federal charges were ever brought against Damien Rodriguez. ORS 166.155, the Intimidation charge, was amended in 2019 to “Bias Crime,” and it remains a misdemeanor. The only applicable “hate crime” was a federal law explicitly intended to “put the military on equal footing with other protected classes.”
The Oregonian weaponized HCPA to attack the community it protects.
The next report on the attack, from Bob Heye of KUTV, was televised and more careful. It made sure to include words like “allegedly” and did not raise the specter of hate. KUTV included footage of DarSalam co-owner Tiffany Sahib saying of the two Marines, “Clearly these people had a problem with Middle Easterners or Iraq. And they came in looking for trouble.”
Her comments were recorded at some kind of press conference, because Tiffany appears in a second tv segment wearing the same attire. In a story run by KGW8 on April 26th, field reporter Pat Dorris has apparently asked her a question to which she responds (at 00:01:03) “No, haha. No, I mean it’s obvious it’s a hate crime.”
Those comments must have been made prior to 6:18pm on April 25th because that’s when KUTV aired footage from the same presser. They’re significant because Tiffany makes no claim to be a legal expert or law enforcement officer; she shouldn’t be expected to know the difference between federal and state laws. There’s no law (currently) prohibiting anyone from making hateful, biased claims about the military minority. As far as the law is concerned, Tiffany Sahib can refuse service to soldiers and veterans because she thinks they’re all baby-killing monsters. That’s what is known as lawful discrimination: it might be fµ¢ked up, but it’s not illegal.
What is illegal, however, is legal experts, law enforcement officers, and the so-called Free Press publishing false statements. Contrary to the PPB spokesperson’s claim, there are no hate crimes under Oregon state law, a fact I confirmed with the District Attorney’s office. That’s why I am interested in the timing of Tiffany’s biased and harmful anti-military rhetoric - was she reacting emotionally to the situation, or did she goad reporters and police toward heavy handed punishment?
The Oregonian cited PPB Public Information Officer SGT Pete Simpson’s mischaracterization of ORS 166.155 as “a bias/hate crime law in Oregon.” As a professional law enforcement officer, Pete has an obligation to know WTF he’s talking about. Either SGT Simpson mischaracterized Oregon state law, which exposes PPB to significant legal liability, or he was amplifying Tiffany’s false assertion that federal law had been violated.
According to SGT Pete Simpson’s LinkedIn, he’s now the Chief District Attorney Investigator at the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office, the same office the New York Times said had pushed for “the Marine [to] do time behind bars.” That makes me wonder if he picked up on Tiffany’s language, or if it was already there inside his own head. After all,
Why put someone with no criminal history behind bars for a misdemeanor?
Let’s pretend Lizzy Acker was just reporting what the PPB spokesperson said. What stopped her from fact checking the police before publishing false information; was it even more bias, or simple incompetence? The answer to that question doesn’t change the effect their lack of integrity had on a career service member who was dragged in the press for a crime with which he was never charged. The cold hard truth is several people screwed up, but left a soldier to bear the consequences for their dumbfµ¢kery.
The story ain’t over yet. I’m still digging and pulling string, since journalists won’t. Stay tuned for a Part Two on Damien Rodriguez, and maybe even more. Until then, I hope you will help bring civil rights to soldiers and veterans;
Help #GIJustice by taking action
Contact the Portland Police Bureau Public Information office and demand they take responsibility for mischaracterizing ORS 166.155.
📞 503-823-0000
📧 PPBPIO@police.portlandoregon.gov
Email The Oregonian editor and Vice President for Content Therese Bottomly and demand a retraction and an apology to Damien Rodriguez.
tbottomly@oregonian.com
