By JESSICA ANDERSON

With our rapid news cycle and the sometimes-slow pace of the judicial process, it’s easy to lose track of progress in cases and incidents we become aware of. I’m pleased to share with you an update provided by Portland Police in one such case. 
As background, in May 2023, a Portland man, Jason Gates, was arrested after allegedly assaulting a security guard and staff working at the Acropolis Steakhouse. Prosecutors said the man had shouted “white power” and racial and antisemitic slurs and was asked to leave the building. The security guard who asked him to leave was wearing a Star of David necklace and Gates proceeded to punch him and continue to yell slurs. The injuries required surgery and Gates also punched a manager and broke a window. The investigation concluded that Gates attacked the bouncer based on Gate’s antisemitic views, supported by the victim wearing a Star of David necklace at the time of the assault. Additionally, when Gates’ phone was placed into police property, astute patrol officers noticed that his home-screen was a photo of Adolf Hitler. 
The case was assigned for follow-up by Major Crimes Unit and the subsequent work found that the victim had sustained injury consistent with a felony Assault II charge in addition to the felony Bias Crime I charge. Additionally, warrants served on Gates’ digital device revealed significant evidence in support of the felony Bias Crime charge. The update is that Gates recently agreed to plead guilty to several charges including Assault II and Bias Crime I and on August 1st he was sentenced to 48 months in prison. Portland Police continue to aggressively investigate these crimes and encourage reporting of all incidents, and on behalf of the Jewish community I expressed thanks and appreciation for their work. 
I’ll also repeat the example from Portland’s Asian community which I used in a February Jewish Review article to stress the importance of reporting. In this instance, an identified man yelled anti-Asian slurs at two women but did nothing else. The incident was reported, and it was determined to not be a crime. A few weeks later, the same man walked up to an Asian man and punched him in the face without saying a word. The man was arrested and because the first incident was reported and his anti-Asian animus was already established, the District Attorney’s office was able to classify the incident as a hate crime. Without that previous reporting, they could not have charged that. We never know what is going to be relevant down the road, but with increased reporting, we may have a chance to link incidents and identify trends.
Please report incidents to me at 872-273-9214, janderson@securecommunitynetwork.org, or through the Incident Reporting Form on the JFGP’s security website page, https://jewishportland.org/security. 
The first SCN High Holiday informational webinar, "Securing the Synagogue,” will take place Tomorrow, Aug. 15 from 11am-12:30pm.  Registration is available at securecommunitynetwork-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/4117186341205/WN_jc76yCuURgWR4MDbVAIPgQ#/registration.
The next webinar, “Firearms and the Faithful” will occur Thursday, Aug. 22, 11am-12:30pm. This webinar will consider the issues and concerns related to armed security in houses of worship and other centers of Jewish life. You can find the entire SCN High Holiday webinar schedule at https://www.securecommunitynetwork.org/high-holidays.